INDIANA 


A  SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  SURVEY 


BY 

FRANCES  DOAN  STREIGHTOFF,  A.  M. 

AND 

FRANK  HATCH  STREIGHTOFF,  Ph.  D. 

Professor  of  Economics  in  DePauw  University. 

Author  of  The  Standard  of  Living,     The  Distribution  of  Incomes  in  the  United 
States,  and  A  Report  on  the  Cost  of  Living  in  New  York  State. 

With  a  chapter  on 

CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTIONS 


CECIL  CLARE  NORTH,  Ph.  D. 

Professor  of  Sociology  in  DePauw  University. 
Author  of  The  Sociological  Implications  of  Ricardo's  Economics. 


W.  K.  STEWART  COMPANY, 
INDIANAPOLIS, 

1916 


' 

.£< 


Copyright,  1916, 
By  Frank  Hatch  Streightoff. 


HERALD  PUBLISHING  CO. 
ANDERSON,  IND. 


FOREWORD 

Much  has  been  written  about  the  History  of 
Indiana.  Most  folks  live  in  the  present  and  plan 
for  the  future.  It  seems  well  worth  while,  there- 
fore, to  consider  for  a  short  time  the  problems  of 
today  and  of  tomorrow.  In  these  pages  there  will 
be  found  a  concise  description  of  Indiana  as  she  is, 
and  of  the  problems  she  faces.  No  effort  is  made 
to  gloss  over  her  shortcomings,  no  space  is  wasted 
in  empty  paeans.  On  the  other  hand,  the  good  is 
related  without  exaggeration ;  and  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  good  to  be  told. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  have  every 
statement  of  fact  correct,  but  errors  have  prob- 
ably escaped  detection.  Of  such  mistakes  the 
writers  desire  to  be  informed. 

In  compiling  data  aid  has  been  obtained  from 
many  persons,  but  especial  thanks  are  due  to  Mr. 
James  L.  Clark  of  the  Public  Service  Commission ; 
Mr.  Charles  L.  Henry,  President  of  the  Indiana- 
polis and  Cincinnati  Traction  Company;  Mr.  Ed- 
gar A.  Perkins,  of  the  Industrial  Commission ;  Mr. 
George  Schwab,  Secretary  of  the  Indiana  State 
Federation  of  Labor;  T.  P.  Littlepage,  Esq.,  of 
Washington,  D.  C.;  Mr.  Floyd  E.  Wright,  State 
Gas  Inspector;  Mr.  Edward  Barrett,  State  Geolo- 
gist; Professor  Stanley  Coulter,  of  Purdue  Uni- 
versity; Professor  Wm.  E.  Smythe,  of  DePauw 
University ;  Mr.  John  J.  Walsh,  Chief  Inspector  of 
Buildings  and  Factories;  and  Mr.  Michael  Scol- 
lard,  Chief  Inspector  of  Mines. 


333927 


Contents 


Page 

Foreword             V 

Chapter  I.       The  Physical  Basis 5 

Water  Power 6 

Petroleum  and  Natural  Gas 7 

Natural  Gas  in  Indiana 9 

Oil    13 

Coal  15 

Clays 18 

Sand  and  Stones 19 

Summary 20 

Chapter  II.         Trees 21 

Forest  Destruction 21 

Forestry   24 

Nuts  29 

Orchards    30 

Summary 34 

Chapter  III.        Agriculture    35 

Extent  of  Farming  in  Indiana 37 

Crops 41 

Animal  Products   46 

Means  of  Encouraging  Agriculture . .  50 

Summary 54 

Chapter  IV.        Manufactures   56 

Gary 56 

Other  Northern  Cities 58 

The  Southern  Cities 59 

The  Middle  Line 60 

The  State  as  a  Whole 61 

Reasons    65 

Chapter  V.          Transportation    68 

Roads  69 

Railways    75 

Interurbans  77 

Summary 86 


Chapter  VI.        Labor    87 

Women  Wage  Earners 89 

Labor  Organization 92 

Labor  Troubles 96 

Summary    98 

Chapter  VII.       Labor  Legislation    100 

Children    101 

Protection  of  Women 102 

Health  and  Safety 104 

Empolyers'  Liability 106 

Workmen's  Compensation 108 

Protection  of  Remuneration Ill 

Employment  Bureaus  113 

Arbitration  and  Conciliation 114 

Miscellaneous  Labor  Laws 115 

Industrial  Board 115 

Summary    115 

Chapter  VIII.     Government 116 

Townships  116 

Towns    119 

Cities    120 

Counties    129 

The  General  Assembly 132 

State  Officials 141 

Impeachments 144 

Direct  Primaries   146 

Courts    147 

Summary 149 

Chapter  IX.       Finances    151 

The  Poll  Tax 152 

Exemptions 152 

Assessment  154 

Rates  and  Collection 158 

Depositories 159 

Supervision   160 

A  Step  Forward 160 

Criticisms    161 

Chapter  X.         Constitution 162 

Difficulty  of  Amendment 163 

The  Suffrage  .166 

Efficiency  of  the  Ballot 168 

Legislative  Restriction  170 

Justice    173 

Financial  Provisions 174 

Narrow  Interpretation 175 


Miscellaneous    175 

Summary 176 

Chapter  XI        Charities  and  Correction 178 

Poor  Relief 178 

Children    188 

Defectives   197 

Medical  Charities 203 

Adult  Delinquents  205 

Administration 213 

Chapter  XII.       Education  219 

Finances  of  the  Public  Schools 219 

Organization  of  the  School  System.  .221 

The  Teachers   225 

The  Pupils 229 

Vocational  Education   234 

Health    ».-..  .238 

Gary 239 

Normal  Schools  and  Libraries 241 

Higher  Education   242 

Summary 245 

Appendix         Selected  References  249 

Index  ..257 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Physical  Basis 

Students  have  long  recognized  that  the  physical  features 
of  a  country  powerfully  affect  the  inhabitants,  but  it  is 
only  the  past  decade  that  has  taught  men  properly  to  ap- 
preciate the  extent  of  this  influence.  Mountain  ranges  and 
bodies  of  water  at  one  time  form  barriers  and  at  another 
time  determine  channels  of  communication ;  the  climate,  the 
contour  and  character  of  the  soil,  and  the  mineral  subsur- 
face combine  to  limit  the  range  of  industries  that  are  profit- 
able in  any  locality.  These  industries  react  upon  the  popu- 
lation, influencing  social  ideals,  politics,  learning,  and  even 
religion.  Unless  nature  refuses  to  care  for  the  improvident 
and  also  rewards  forethot  with  liberality,  accumulations 
of  wealth  are  rare,  leisure  for  thinking  and  the  incentive  to 
think  are  lacking,  and  culture  lags.  So  it  is  important  to 
consider  the  physical  wealth  of  any  locality  that  one  desires 
to  understand. 

Altho  the  United  States  is  probably  more  richly  endow- 
ed with  wealth  than  any  other  country  that  has  come  fully 
under  the  control  of  a  people  of  Western  European  culture. 
Indiana  does  not  exhibit  any  startlingly  lavish  gifts  of  na- 
ture. A  few  small  diamonds  have  been  picked  up  in  the 
commonwealth,  after  every  hard  rain  the  children  of  Brown 
County  are  sent  to  search  the  streams  for  particles  of  gold, 
iron  ore  has  been  commercially  extracted  in  several  local- 
ities, and  in  Vigo  County  there  have  been  obtained  some 
valuable  mineral  pigments.  The  Hoosier  state,  however, 
offers  nothing  to  match  the  gold  deposits  of  Alaska,  the  dia- 
mond fields  of  South  Africa,  the  nitrate  beds  of  Chili,  the 
iron  ranges  of  Minnesota,  or  the  fisheries  of  Washington. 
Indiana  is  lacking  in  the  showy  lavishments ;  yet  she  is  pos- 
sessed of  abundant  wealth. 

The  wonderful  hardwood  forests,  that  at  first  formed  a 
brake  upon  the  rapid  progress  of  civilization  and  later  made 


6  INDIANA 

Indianapolis  a  great  lumber  center,  occupied  a  soil  that  has 
become,  under  proper  treatment,  a  source  of  infinite  riches. 
Since  the  story  of  the  trees  and  of  the  soil  is  reserved  for 
other  essays,  this  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  the  wealth  that 
has  been  found  under  the  surface,  or  in  it  waiting  to  be  ap- 
propriated by  society. 

Water  Power. 

One  of  the  prime  needs  of  man  is  some  strength  greater 
than  his  own.  Very  early  in  the  history  of  Indiana,  there- 
fore, the  streams  of  the  state  were  dammed  and  grist  mills 
were  operated  by  the  water  wheels.  Later,  with  the  com- 
pletion of  parts  of  the  Whitewater  and  the  Wabash  and 
Erie  Canals,  a  large  number  of  powers  became  available, 
some  of  which  are  still  in  use.  And  today  at  Connersville 
on  the  Whitewater,  at  Mishawaka  and  South  Bend  on  the  St. 
Joseph,  at  Goshen  on  the  Elkhart,  and  at  various  other 
points  along  these  streams  and  on  the  Pigeon,  White,  Blue, 
Mississinewa,  Tippecanoe,  and  Eel  Rivers  there  are  factor- 
ies, mills,  and  electric  power  plants  dependent  in  whole  or  in 
large  part  upon  the  water.  Altho  between  1904  and  1909  the 
horsepower  of  the  factories  derived  directly  from  water  di- 
minished from  9,685  to  7,892,  the  use  of  streams  has  prob- 
ably increased,  as  more  and  more  men  use  them  for  the  gen- 
eration of  electricity.  There  are  still  some  excellent  dam 
sites,  notably  on  the  Tippecanoe,  White,  and  Eel  Rivers, 
which  have  not  yet  been  utilized  because  of  their  inconven- 
ient location,  but  the  improvements  in  methods  of  transmit- 
ting electricity  will  doubtless  permit  of  their  development 
before  many  years  have  passed. 

It  may,  at  first  blush,  seem  strange  that  a  state  having 
so  many  rivers  and  so  many  hills  as  Indiana,  should  obtain 
only  one  and  three-tenths  per  cent  of  its  factory  power  direct 
from  water  courses,  but  the  explanation  is  not  far  to  seek. 
In  the  first  place,  the  deforestation  of  the  hills  about  the 
headwaters  of  many  streams  has  made  the  flow  so  irregular 
that  for  weeks  at  a  time  during  the  summer  it  is  impossible 
to  obtain  enough  head  for  operation.  Second,  the  glacial 
deposits  over  a  large  area  of  the  state  have  prevented  the 
river  beds  from  reaching  rock  bottom,  and  so  good  dam  sites 
are  rare.  Third,  a  large  amount  of  underground  drainage 
deprives  the  rivers  of  a  great  deal  of  water  that  would  other- 
wise be  available  for  power.  Fourth,  since  the  rainfall  is 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  7 

an  inconstant  factor,  the  state  average  fluctuating  between 
such  wide  limits  as  thirty  and  a  half  inches  in  1901  and 
forty-seven  and  three-fourths  inches  in  1909,  the  amount  of 
power  derivable  from  any  given  source  is  extremely  variable. 
Finally,  in  some  of  the  localities  where  properly  constructed 
dams  would  flood  large  areas  and  furnish  a  large  volume  of 
water  the  year  around,  the  value  of  land  for  farming  is  so 
high  that  a  water  power  development  is  financially  unfeas- 
ible. It  may  be  that  some  future  age  will  witness  the  ne- 
cessity of  developing  every  possible  source  of  water  power  in 
the  state,  but  until  that  time  Indiana  can  rely  upon  her 
abundant  fuels. 

Petroleum  and  Natural  Gas. 

It  is  usual  for  men  to  associate  natural  gas  and  petro- 
leum in  their  thinking,  largely  because  these  two  fuels  so  of- 
ten occur  in  the  same  wells,  but  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  that 
some  borings  which  reach  oil  fail  to  discover  gas  and  vice 
versa.  Just  how  these  substances  originated  scientists  can- 
not tell,  but  it  is  possible  to  form  some  definite  conclusions. 
In  the  first  place,  there  must  be  a  porous  reservoir  of  lime- 
stone or  sandstone.  It  is  probable  that  marine  plants  and 
animals,  dying  in  great  numbers,  left  their  decaying  bodies 
to  be  enclosed  in  the  rock  that  was  forming,  and  that  then 
an  impervious  covering  drifted  over  the  rock  that  contained 
the  remains.  In  eastern  Indiana  this  covering  is  the  Utica 
Shale  varying  in  thickness  from  one  hundred  to  three  hun- 
dred feet.  The  destructive  distillation  of  these  bodies 
formed  oils  and  gases  that  could  not  escape  thru  the  shale 
covering.  Because  the  strata  do  not  lie  flat  but  in  undula- 
tions, and  because  water  generally  gains  access  to  each  por- 
ous layer  at  some  point  where  it  comes  near  the  earth's  sur- 
face, the  oil  and  gas  are  under  pressure  which  forces  them 
into  the  crests  of  the  undulations  or  "domes".  This  pres- 
sure is  at  times  so  great  that  boring  tools  are  blown  clear  out 
of  the  hole  when  the  shale  is  finally  pierced.  The  accom- 
panying idealized  diagram  illustrates  some  cardinal  prin- 
ciples. A  well  drilled  at  "a"  would  result  in  a  flow  of  gas, 
while  a  bore  sunk  at  "b"  would  reach  oil  which  would  prob- 
ably contain  salt  water.  The  pressure  of  the  gas  in  the 
dome  or  of  the  water  back  of  the  oil  might  be  so  great  as  to 
force  the  petroleum  up  thru  the  well  to  form  a  "gusher". 
As  the  quantity  of  oil  or  gas  in  one  of  these  wells  becomes 


8 


INDIANA 


depleted,  more  filters  in  from  the  surrounding  rock,  and 
maintains  the  supply  for  an  indefinite  time.  In  order  to 
facilitate  this  replenishment  it  is  usual  to  "shoot"  a  well. 
When  the  bore  has  been  drilled  to  what  seems  to  be  a  paying 
stratum,  dynamite  is  exploded  at  the  bottom  in  order  that 
the  rock  may  be  torn  and  openings  established  between  the 
hole  and  the  more  remote  cavities. 

There  is  no  magic  in  finding  oil  or  gas.     In  boring  it  is 
the  practice  to  record  the  depths  of  the  porous  stratum  and 

Relation  of  Strata  to  Product  o<  Wells. 


tl  Gas  well. 

b,  C         Oil  welk,  probably  produce  some  gas 

5  Bore  would  strike  salt  water. 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  9 

to  compare  these  results  with  surface  levels,  because  a  well 
near  the  crest  of  an  undulation  has  the  best  chances  of  strik- 
ing oil  or  gas.  As  the  strata  frequently  run  parallel  to  each 
other,  it  is  sometimes  possible  to  make  wise  guesses  based 
on  the  surface  indications.  In  this  way  the  present  Gas  In- 
spector, Mr.  Floyd  Wright,  located  the  Cannelburg  pool  in 
1914.  However,  the  only  final  test  of  the  presence  of  oil  or 
gas  is  a  bore,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  have 
been  spent  in  unproductive  tapping  of  the  earth's  surface. 
"Wildcatting"  or  drilling  in  territory  not  known  to  be  oil 
bearing  is  of  course  a  large  source  of  this  loss,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  wells  within  a  few  yards  of  a  paying  bore  may 
be  absolute  failures. 

One  other  fact  should  be  mentioned  in  this  brief  descrip- 
tion of  general  principles.  When  a  well  such  as  that  at  "b" 
in  the  diagram  is  abandoned,  water  is  allowed  to  leak  down 
thru  the  hole.  The  increased  pressure  from  this  water 
forces  the  gas  and  oil  further  up  into  the  dome,  making  it 
more  and  more  difficult  for  the  drillers  to  find  a  place  for  a 
successful  bore,  and  ruining  other  wells  with  locations  at 
"c." 

Natural  Gas  in  Indiana. 

The  discovery  of  natural  gas  in  1885  at  Findlay  and  at 
other  points  in  northwestern  Ohio  caused  a  furore  in  In- 
diana, for,  since  the  Trenton  limestone  extends  under  both 
commonwealths,  it  was  reasoned,  if  the  one  state  possesses 
great  reservoirs  of  subterranean  riches,  so  must  the  other. 
In  his  report  for  that  year,  Maurice  Thompson,  the  Indiana 
State  Geologist,  intimated  that  a  great  deal  of  money  had 
been  lost  in  sinking  unsuccessful  wells,  and  concluded  that 
the  "northern  part  and  the  southwestern  part"  of  the  com- 
monwealth were  the  areas  that  might  "be  examined  with 
much  confidence,  tho  it  is  quite  possible  that  extensive  res- 
ervoirs exist  in  other  areas  of  the  state."  Such  prophecy 
was  indefinite  enough  to  be  absolutely  correct  in  every  par- 
ticular. Indeed,  before  this  prediction  was  published  by  the 
state  early  in  1887,  several  postscripts  had  to  be  added.  In 
1886  George  W.  Carter,  W.  W.  Worthington,  and  Robert 
Bell,  knowing  that  in  1876  a  company  boring  for  coal  had 
come  upon  natural  gas  below  Eaton  in  Delaware  county,  or- 
ganized a  corporation  which  began  drilling  and  soon  struck 
gas  at  a  depth  of  922  feet.  The  roar  of  the  escaping  gas 


10  INDIANA 

could  be  heard  for  two  miles,  and  the  twenty  foot  flame  could 
be  seen  from  Muncie,  twelve  miles  away.  Within  the  year 
other  successful  wells  had  been  completed  at  Kokomo,  Tip- 
ton,  and  Portland. 

The  gas  region  rapidly  extended  until  in  1899  there  were 
two  fields.  The  northern  included  all  of  Madison,  Delaware, 
Blackford,  and  Grant  Counties,  most  of  Hamilton  and  Tipton 
Counties,  and  parts  of  Hancock,  Henry,  Howard,  Jay,  Hun- 
tington,  Miami,  Randolph,  Wabash,  Wayne,  and  Wells  Coun- 
ties. The  southern  field  included  parts  of  Decatur,  Han- 
cock, Henry,  Marion,  Rush,  Shelby,  and  Wayne  Counties. 
Since  then  gas  has  been  found,  often  in  connection  with  oil, 
at  Oakland  City,  Princeton,  Sullivan,  and  Shelburn,  and  in 
smaller  quantity  at  various  other  places.  For  a  while  pro- 
duction increased  rapidly:  in  1886  the  value  of  the  natural 
gas  was  $300,000,  in  1888,  $1,320,000,  and  in  1893,  $5,718,- 
000.  Then  the  output  fell  off,  only  to  rise  in  1899  and  1900 
to  $7,254,000.  From  that  year  there  has  been  an  almost 
steady  decline  until  now  the  annual  product  of  the  gas  wells 
is  worth  about  a  million  and  a  half  dollars. 

One  of  the  reasons  for  this  great  diminution  in  the 
amount  of  gas  produced  has  been  the  enormous  waste.  It 
was  perhaps  natural  for  the  folks  who  made  the  first  finds  to 
feel  that  the  supply  was  inexhaustible,  and,  since  they  want- 
ed to  advertise  their  wares,  they  lighted  the  streams  that 
shot  from  the  bores  and  allowed  them  to  burn  for  days  and 
even  for  months.  In  the  second  place,  the  early  rates  charged 
consumers,  based  on  the  number  of  fixtures  rather  than  on 
any  system  of  exact  measurement,  encouraged  extrava- 
gance, for  by  the  cost  of  matches  it  was  actually  cheaper  to 
leave  the  gas  burning  day  and  night  than  to  turn  it  out  and 
light  it  again.  Indeed,  some  people  would  open  their  doors 
and  windows  to  cool  off  the  house  overheated  by  the  con- 
tinually burning  gas.  Again,  some  of  the  gas  was  used  for 
burning  bricks  and  smelting  iron,  processes  that  can  be 
equally  well  carried  on  with  coal.  Since  the  lighting  and  the 
heating  of  homes  is  so  much  more  convenient  with  gas  than 
with  coal,  society  would  have  been  better  off  in  the  long  run 
had  the  use  of  the  gas  been  solely  domestic.  Fourth,  the 
nature  of  the  gas  supply  increased  the  waste,  for  when  a 
well  fell  off  in  productivity,  the  obvious  course  of  the  owner 
was  to  remove  the  casing  and  use  it  in  another  boring.  Then 
the  water  would  leak  down  this  hole  into  the  Trenton  lime- 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  11 

stone.  Great  numbers  of  these  abandoned  holes  admitted 
such  quantities  of  water  into  the  oil  and  gas  strata  that  the 
subterranean  fresh  water  level  fell  over  twenty  feet  and  gas 
became  harder  and  harder  to  find.  Finally,  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  supply  of  the  gas  compelled  a  too  rapid  ex- 
ploitation. A  man  with  a  farm  next  to  one  containing  a 
paying  well  could  not  hold  back  for  gas  prices  to  rise  after 
his  neighbor's  well  was  exhausted.  It  was  necessary  for 
him  to  drill  at  once  or  the  gas  underlying  his  farm  would 
seep  thru  the  pores  of  the  rock  into  his  neighbor's  well. 
In  all  these  ways  the  gas  was  wasted,  and  the  waste  was  en- 
couraged by  nature. 

The  state  was  not  long  oblivious  to  this  waste.  In  1891 
the  General  Assembly  prohibited  flambeaus,  and  provided 
for  a  Gas  Inspector  whose  duty  it  was  to  inspect  all  wells,  to 
enforce  proper  precautions  to  insure  the  health  and  safety 
of  the  workmen  and  of  the  consumers,  and  to  see  that  the 
pipes  did  not  leak.  The  next  Assembly  enacted  a  penalty  of 
from  one  thousand  to  ten  thousand  dollars  for  failure  to  stop 
the  escape  of  oil  or  gas  within  two  days  of  the  completion  of 
a  successful  well.  It  was  also  ordained  that  all  abandoned 
wells  must  be  properly  plugged  to  prevent  the  leaking  of 
water  into  the  productive  strata.  For  a  while  these  stat- 
utes were  defied.  The  men  who  sunk  oil  wells  could  not 
begin  pumping  the  petroleum  until  the  gas  had  escaped,  and 
so,  with  justice  from  the  standpoint  of  their  own  pocket- 
books,  they  resisted  the  enforcement  of  these  acts. 

In  1896,  however,  the  State  Supreme  Court  upheld  the 
constitutionality  of  the  law,  and  at  the  same  time  the  public 
began  to  realize  that  the  supply  of  gas  was  not  unlimited. 
These  two  events  made  it  possible  to  eliminate  the  grosser 
forms  of  wanton  extravagance,  and  the  use  of  the  gas  en- 
gine in  pumping  oil  has  led  to  jealous  conservation  in  the 
newer  petroleum  fields.  The  new  attitude  came  too  late  to 
conserve  the  major  part  of  the  great  reservoirs,  yet  it  did 
succeed  in  prolonging  the  life  of  the  gas  supplies. 

The  discovery  of  natural  gas  powerfully  stimulated  the 
industrial  development  of  Indiana,  for  as  the  supply  of  this 
fuel  in  Ohio  began  to  decline,  many  manufacturers  looking 
for  new  locations  found  excellent  facilities  in  Alexandria, 
Anderson,  Carthage,  Dunkirk,  Eaton,  Elwood,  Fort  Wayne, 
Greenfield,  Hartford  City,  Huntington,  Kokomo,  Marion, 
Muncie,  Noblesville,  Pendleton,  Peru,  Spiceland,  and  Tipton. 


12 


INDIANA 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  13 

By  1891  some  ninety-four  new  plants  capitalized  at  over  five 
and  a  half  million  dollars  and  employing  some  six  thousand 
persons  had  been  erected  within  the  gas  territory.  Among 
these  new  factories  glass  works  were  most  numerous,  twen- 
ty-three establishments  employing  some  three  thousand 
hands.  Next  came  the  iron  works,  thirteen  in  number,  fur- 
nishing occupation  to  eleven  hundred  people.  The  indus- 
tries of  lesser  importance  included  the  manufacture  of 
strawboard,  wood-pulp,  brick  and  tile,  wood  products,  flour, 
and  canned  fruit.  So  the  gas  period  was  a  time  of  begin- 
nings of  growth  in  many  lines  of  industry.  When  the  sup- 
ply of  this  cheap  fuel  began  to  wane,  some  of  the  plants  had 
to  be  closed,  but  others  found  it  possible  to  continue  their 
work  with  the  direct  use  of  coal,  or  else  with  producer  gas. 
The  gain  to  the  state  has  been  permanent. 

Oil. 

Altho  oil,  like  gas,  had  long  been  known  to  exist  in  the 
rocks  lying  under  Indiana,  it  was  not  until  1889  that  a  well 
produced  petroleum  in  commercial  quantities.  This  well, 
the  Phoenix,  was  a  rather  unusual  one  in  that  it  was  prac- 
tically isolated  in  the  center  of  Terre  Haute.  The  next  year 
witnessed  the  discovery  of  abundant  oil  at  Keystone  in  Wells 
County  and  the  real  beginning  of  the  petroleum  business  in 
the  state,  with  a  production  of  some  sixty-three  thousand 
barrels.  Rapidly  the  oil  area  was  extended  in  the  same 
counties  that  had  yielded  natural  gas,  and  by  1894  the  out- 
put had  reached  three  and  a  half  million  barrels.  Two  years 
later  the  product  was  greater  by  a  million  barrels,  but  after 
1896  there  was  for  the  next  four  years  a  slight  decline  in 
the  oil  business.  From  1900  the  business  grew  until  1904 
when  the  high  water  mark  of  11,339,124  barrels  was  reach- 
ed. Since  then  the  decline  has  been  rapid;  there  were 
pumped  less  than  a  million  barrels  in  1913;  and  about  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  in  1914. 

When  it  became  evident  that  the  petroleum  in  the  Tren- 
ton limestone  would  speedily  fail,  men  began  to  search  out 
other  oil  fields.  In  1893,  J.  W.  Swisher  had  succeeded  in 
locating  a  producing  well  near  Medarrysville  in  Jasper  Coun- 
ty, so,  in  1899  a  systematic  exploitation  of  that  region  was 
begun  by  the  Interstate  Company  and  by  an  English  syn- 
dicate. A  heavy  oil  was  found  close  to  the  surface  but  all 
the  wells  were  small  producers,  and  the  field  has  never  been 


14  INDIANA 

very  important.  Curiously  enough,  however,  these  bores 
tapped  the  same  corniferous  sandstones  that  furnished  the 
supply  of  the  famous  Phoenix  well  in  Terre  Haute,  and  that 
were  again  reached  by  drilling  near  Loogootee  which  became 
a  small  but  steady  factor  in  the  oil  business  by  1900.  Far- 
ther south  and  west  borings  disclosed  gas  and  oil  about 
Princeton  and  Oakland  City  in  1903  and  1907  respectively, 
the  successful  wells  having  followed  an  accidental  strike  by 
William  R.  Wright  in  1891  when  he  secured  gas  enough  to 
light  the  County  Court  House  at  Princeton.  This  field  has 
been  systematically  developed  by  the  corporations.  The 
last  rich  discoveries  of  oil  have  been  near  Sullivan  and  Shel- 
burn  which  first  yielded  their  wealth  in  1913  after  consid- 
erable prospecting.  In  1914,  this  field  yielded  859,500  bar- 
rels from  four  hundred  wells,  while  the  Princeton-Oakland 
City  field  produced  151,000  barrels  from  about  three  hundred 
wells,  and  the  "old  field"  with  nearly  thirty-eight  hundred 
bores  raised  but  509,000  barrels.  This  hasty  review  shows 
that  altho  the  great  petroleum  resources  of  Indiana  seem 
to  be  pretty  well  exhausted,  there  is  still  productive  terri- 
tory, and  there  is  always  the  possibility  of  a  new  find. 

The  desire  for  wealth  from  oil  has  been  the  cause  of 
much  loss.  In  Jasper  County,  for  example,  after  the  first 
fortunate  strikes,  companies  were  formed  that,  in  their  pro- 
spectuses enlarged  upon  their  ability  to  sell  annually  more 
oil  than  the  entire  field  would  have  produced  in  twenty  years 
at  its  maximum.  Many  farmers  "tumbled"  and  were  "bit". 
In  1904,  during  a  local  furore,  there  were  forty-seven  oil 
companies  in  Muncie  alone;  thirty-four  of  them  expired 
within  a  year.  The  exaggeration  of  fair  prospects  in  glow- 
ing prospectuses  was  costly  to  many  an  innocent  investor. 
Indeed,  most  of  the  profit  seems  to  have  gone  to  corporations 
of  men  who  came  from  without  the  state  to  proven  areas 
and  worked  them  systematically  with  the  skill  of  experience. 

The  extension  of  the  petroleum  fields  into  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  State  has  brought  a  new  source  of  peril  to  the 
mining  of  coal,  for  the  bores  often  pierce  the  coal  measures. 
Unless  such  wells  are  properly  cased  while  in  operation  and 
securely  plugged  when  abandoned,  gas  is  likely  to  leak  into 
the  mines  and  cause  explosions.  Moreover,  unless  the  cas- 
ing and  plugging  is  carefully  done,  water  may  rise  from 
lower  strata,  or  fall  down  from  above  and  cause  continual 
trouble.  Therefore,  the  state  law  requiring  a  certain  stand- 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  15 

ard  for  plugging  that  is  based  upon  the  conditions  of  the 
old  Trenton  limestone  field  needs  to  be  extended  to  require 
a  new  type  of  sealing  in  the  other  areas  where  the  oil  is  in 
the  sandstone,  where  the  impervious  covering  is  sometimes 
but  two  feet  thick  instead  of  two  hundred,  and  where  there 
are  several  salt  water  levels  above  the  oil.  Moreover,  every 
bore  in  the  coal  belts  should  be  recorded  in  order  that  the 
miners  may  cut  around  the  holes  by  a  wide  enough  margin 
to  allow  safety. 

Coal. 

The  gas  and  the  oil  have  already  passed  their  period  of 
greatest  utility  in  Indiana,  but  there  is  another  source  of 
power,  greater  than  both,  and  far  more  durable.  Just  when 
coal  was  first  mined  in  Indiana  probably  cannot  be  told,  but 
it  is  known  that  in  1812  some  was  dug  in  Perry  County  by 
Robert  Fulton  for  use  on  the  first  trip  of  the  "Orleans"  down 
the  Mississippi.  In  the  later  thirties  David  Dale  Owen, 
then  State  Geologist,  made  surveys  and  located  the  coal 
areas  of  the  state  very  much  as  we  now  know  them,  in  the 
forties  coal  was  shipped  in  flat  boats  down  the  Wabash, 
White,  and  Ohio  Rivers,  and  in  1850  the  first  shaft  was  sunk 
near  Newburg  in  Warrick  County  by  John  Hutchenson.  The 
next  great  event  in  the  development  of  the  coal  fields  of 
Indiana  was  the  opening  up  of  the  wonderful  mines  of  Clay 
County,  and  in  1870  the  state's  production  had  risen  to  a 
half  million  tons.  Altho  for  a  time  the  extensive  use  of 
gas  played  havoc  with  the  local  demand  for  coal,  the  output 
steadily  increased  to  over  eighteen  million  tons  in  1910, 
when  mining  occupied  more  than  twenty-one  thousand  men. 
The  coal  measures  of  Indiana  are  a  part  of  a  great  bed 
which  extends  under  northwestern  Kentucky,  central  and 
southeastern  Illinois,  and  southwestern  Indiana.  The  stra- 
tum which  outcrops  in  a  line  passing  southward  from  Wil- 
liamsport  thru  Greencastle  and  Paoli  to  a  little  east  of 
Cannelton,  sinks  below  the  earth's  surface  at  the  rate  of 
about  twenty-four  feet  in  the  mile  until  at  the  Wabash  River 
it  is  from  seven  hundred  to  eight  hundred  feet  deep.  Above 
this  lowest  of  the  coal  beds  sixteen  others  have  been  found 
by  a  single  bore,  with  a  total  thickness  of  over  thirty  feet. 
There  seem  to  be  no  fewer  than  thirty-four  distinct  horizons 
or  coal  levels  in  the  state,  twenty-five  of  which  reach  a 


16 


INDIANA 


Operation     j  B  £7;  0  N  |_ 

August  trod 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  17 

thickness  of  at  least  two  feet,  and  nine  of  which  are  work- 
able over  considerable  areas. 

Roughly  speaking  the  coal  area  lies  in  four  belts.  The 
first  includes  the  western  sections  of  Owen  and  Putnam 
Counties,  the  eastern  parts  of  Fountain,  Parke,  and  Greene 
Counties,  and  Martin,  Dubois,  Orange,  Crawford,  Spencer, 
and  Perry  Counties.  The  surface  is  hilly,  and  the  quantity 
of  coal,  which  is  usually  worked  in  the  drift,  is  not  large. 
It  is  of  the  block  or  semi-block  type,  a  substance  that  has  a 
tendency  to  cleave  along  charcoal  planes  at  right  angles  to 
each  other,  thus  forming  cubes  and  rectangular  prisms. 
West  of  this  first  belt  is  a  second  varying  in  width  from  ten 
to  twenty  miles  and  including  the  western  parts  of  Fountain 
and  Greene  Counties,  the  central  parts  of  Parke,  Clay,  and 
Daviess  Counties,  and  the  eastern  parts  of  Pike  and  Warrick 
Counties.  The  coals  in  this  region  are  likewise  of  the  block 
and  semi-block  variety.  The  mines  are  shallow,  seldom  ex- 
ceeding one  hundred  feet  in  depth.  Many  of  the  large  mines 
of  the  state  are  situated  in  this  and  the  third  belt  which 
stretches  west  from  the  second  for  from  ten  to  twenty  miles. 
This  third  belt  includes  parts  of  Vermillion,  Parke,  Vigo, 
Clay,  Sullivan,  Knox,  Daviess,  Pike,  and  Warrick  Counties, 
and  is  characterized  by  the  outcrops  of  many  workable  stra- 
ta of  the  upper  coals.  These  are  extensively  mined,  but  the 
lowest  beds,  those  that  outcropped  in  the  first  belt  are  here 
deep  and  often  unprofitable.  These  lowest  beds  are  deeper 
still,  and  often  are  pressed  extremely  thin  in  the  fourth  belt, 
which  includes  Gibson,  Vanderburg,  and  Posey  Counties, 
and  the  western  portions  of  Sullivan  and  Knox.  Altho 
there  are  no  outcrops  in  this  belt,  and  altho  most  of  the 
mines  exceed  two  hundred  fifty  feet  in  depth,  it  is  really  the 
richest  coal  country  in  the  state. 

In  all  some  sixty-five  hundred  square  miles  of  Indiana 
are  underlaid  with  coal,  and  over  three  thousand  with  work- 
able strata.  It  was  estimated  in  1908  that  the  original 
amount  of  coal  in  the  measures  of  the  state  was  fifty  billion 
tons,  of  which  three  hundred  fifty  million  had  been  removed 
or  rendered  useless,  while  fourteen  billion  tons  that  could 
be  mined  remained  in  the  deposits.  If  mining  continues  to 
increase  as  rapidly  as  it  did  before  1908,  the  supply  will  last 
about  one  and  a  half  centuries.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  men  will  learn  to  mine  thinner  veins,  and  to  secure  a 


18  INDIANA 

much  larger  proportion  of  the  fuel  in  a  seam,  and  that  thus 
the  life  of  Indiana  mines  will  be  extended. 

Altho  Indiana  coal  is  not  equal  to  Pocahontas  or  anthra- 
cite for  steaming  purposes,  it  is  a  very  good  fuel,  testing  on 
the  average  over  eleven  hundred  thermal  units  to  the  hun- 
dred weight,  which  means  that  one  pound  of  coal  will  vapor- 
ize about  twelve  pounds  of  water.  It  is  of  excellent 
composition  for  generating  the  producer  gas  that  is  becom- 
ing so  important  a  factor  in  the  steel  business.  For  these 
reasons  the  factories  of  the  state  are  finding  that  it  pays 
to  adapt  their  furnaces  to  the  cheaper,  and  perhaps  inferior, 
local  fuel.  Only  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  commonwealth 
can  anthracite  compete  with  the  Indiana  coal. 

So  Indiana  has  an  abounding  source  of  power  for  her 
industries.  If  the  streams  afford  few  dam  sites  worth  de- 
veloping, if  the  gas  is  nearly  gone,  and  if  the  petroleum 
seems  unreliable,  the  coal  can  keep  wheels  turning  and  ma- 
chines running  for  a  century  or  two.  And  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  by  that  time  men  will  have  tamed  the  sun's  rays,  and 
will  have  learned  to  carry  far  inland  the  strength  of  the 
tides. 

Clays. 

Many  is  the  farm  in  Indiana  that  would  be  untillable 
because  of  standing  water  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  man 
can  provide  an  efficient  system  of  underground  drainage. 
The  porous  tile  which  are  laid  under  fields  liable  to  be  too 
wet,  are  made  in  great  quantities  from  the  clays  that  are 
found  in  eighty-two  counties.  This  same  material  pressed 
into  bricks  is  often  utilized  in  constructing  the  farmer's 
dwelling.  Higher  grades  of  clay  are  converted  into  pipes 
for  carrying  off  sewage,  into  paving  material,  and  into  the 
beautiful  pressed  bricks  and  terra  cotta  for  buildings.  Per- 
haps the  finest  clays  in  this  state  are  those  used  at  Brazil, 
at  Shoals,  at  Huntington,  and  at  Cannelton  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  stone  and  earthenware  and  of  semi-porcelain.  In- 
deed, "with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  clays  used  in 
making  the  better  grades  of  terra  cotta,  encaustic  tile,  and 
chinaware,  Indiana  has  within  her  coal  bearing  counties  the 
raw  materials  in  abundance  for  making  every  kind  of  clay 
product  used  within  her  borders." 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  19 

Sand  and  Stones. 

Scarcely  less  valuable  than  the  clays  of  Indiana  are  her 
sands.  Just  east  of  the  coal  fields  the  Mansfield  sandstones 
outcrop  in  bluffs  sometimes  seventy-five  feet  thick.  Other 
excellent  sand  is  found  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan, 
and  in  various  parts  of  the  state  there  are  supplies  of  lesser 
importance.  Much  of  this  sand  is  close  to  railways,  and 
therefore  can  be  cheaply  shipped,  as,  for  example  from  the 
shore  at  Michigan  City  to  Ball  Brothers  at  Muncie,  and  from 
the  Fern  near  Greencastle  to  the  Root  Glass  Company  of 
Terre  Haute.  The  sands  are  all  of  high  enough  grade  for 
utility  glass,  and  many  are  good  enough  for  window  and 
plate  glass.  In  spite  of  the  failure  of  natural  gas,  the  manu- 
facture of  glass  has  so  prospered  in  Indiana  that  in  1909  the 
forty-four  establishments  employed  more  than  ninety-five 
hundred  persons,  and  produced  glass  worth  over  eleven  and 
a  half  million  dollars,  an  output  which  was  exceeded  by  only 
two  other  states,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio. 

In  Orange  County  along  French  Lick  Creek  there  is  a 
considerable  deposit  of  sandstone  of  the  upper  Huronian  age 
that  is  splendid  material  for  whetstones.  Other  sandstones 
found  in  the  western  half  of  the  state  are  good  for  building 
purposes,  particularly  when  fine  carving  has  to  be  done. 

The  most  beautiful  building  stone  in  the  state,  however, 
is  the  Oolitic  limestone  which  lies  in  a  strip  stretching  south 
from  Greencastle  to  the  Ohio  River.  In  the  vicinity  of  Bed- 
ford and  Salem  this  stone  is  at  its  best  for  ready  availability 
and  for  perfect  texture.  As  it  is  quite  soft  when  first 
quarried,  it  can  readily  be  cut  in  beautiful  patterns.  Ex- 
posure to  the  air  hardens  it  into  a  very  desirable  building 
material.  This  stone  has  been  adopted  for  the  construction 
of  four  state  capitals,  a  third  of  the  Indiana  court  houses, 
and  some  of  the  finest  residences  in  New  York  City.  The 
Niagara  limestone  as  afforded  by  Ripley,  Decatur,  and 
Franklin  Counties  has  been  found  very  good  for  trimming, 
doorsteps,  curbing,  flagging,  bridge  abutments,  pier  foot- 
ings, and  street  crossings.  At  Alexandria  this  stone  is  the 
basis  of  the  manufacture  of  mineral  wool,  one  of  the  best 
substances  for  deadening  walls  and  floors  to  sound,  and  for 
insulating  them  for  heat.  These  same  limestones  are 
ground  for  road  materials,  and  others  are  used  as  a  flux  in 
the  manufacture  of  glass  and  in  the  smelting  of  iron.  In 


20  INDIANA 

1909  there  were  3,724  men  employed  in  quarrying  $3,616,- 
000  worth  of  Indiana  limestones,  and  the  state  ranked  third 
in  the  Union  for  the  value  of  its  lime  products. 

Summary. 

No  student  of  Indiana  can  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the 
character  of  the  state's  resources.  A  wonderful  supply  of 
natural  gas  called  into  being  a  great  number  of  manufac- 
turies.  As  the  gas  failed,  it  seemed  that  these  establish- 
ments would  have  to  go  out  of  existence,  but  easily  mined 
coal  of  good  steaming  qualities  has  not  only  saved  the  day, 
but  it  has  also  established  new  industries  in  the  common- 
wealth, and  it  promises  to  maintain  her  high  position  for 
years  to  come.  The  clays  and  the  building  stones  allow 
Indiana  to  take  prominent  place  in  the  production  of  building 
materials  and  of  pottery  products  of  all  varieties,  while  the 
sands  can  be  turned  into  both  the  cheap  and  the  expensive 
grades  of  glass.  Thus  the  fuel  and  the  mineral  stores  of  the 
commonwealth  give  substantial  promise  of  sound  industrial 
development. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Trees 


A  person  passing  thru  Indiana  on  one  of  the  great 
trunk  lines  of  railway  would  never  suspect  that  "when  the 
first  white  men  came  they  found  the  entire  state  one  vast 
primeval  forest",  with  the  exception  of  the  swamp  lands  of 
the  Kankakee  region  and  of  a  comparatively  small  area  in 
the  northwest  where  the  prairies  have  thrown  a  branch 
eastward.  Yet  such  was  the  fact ;  not  only  were  these  for- 
ests believed  to  be  inexhaustible,  but  they  seemed  at  first  a 
foe  to  the  advance  of  civilization.  To  win  a  farm  from  Na- 
ture without  the  aid  of  stump-pullers  or  dynamite  was  a 
task  for  a  strong  man.  Even  up  to  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  only  crop  rotation  extensively  practiced 
in  this  commonwealth  seems  to  have  been  that  known  as 
"deadening."  When  a  farm  appeared  to  be  losing  its  fer- 
tility, the  owner  went  into  the  neighboring  forest  and  gir- 
dled the  trees  after  the  Indian  fashion.  When  the  trees  died 
crops  could  be  put  in  without  waiting  to  fell  them.  It  is 
wrong  to  say  that  the  trees  destroyed  in  this  and  other  ways 
were  wasted.  The  land  was  needed  for  farming,  there  was 
no  use  for  the  timber,  and  so  it  was  real  economy  to  be  rid 
of  the  forest  in  the  easiest  possible  way.  It  is  unjust  to 
blame  men  for  failure  to  practice  crop  rotation  when  they 
had  only  one  good  commercial  crop,  and  when  new  land  could 
so  easily  be  obtained. 

Forest  Destruction. 

Wonderful  woods  these  forests  contained.  The  Indiana 
white  oak  owes  its  destruction  to  the  fact  that  it  has  for  a 
century  been  the  "standard"  by  which  all  commercial  hard- 
woods are  measured.  The  black  walnut  abounded;  some 
contracts  for  gun  stocks  for  the  armies  of  Europe  have  just 
caused  lumbermen  to  scour  the  state  in  search  of  the  last 
remnants.  Carriage  builders  are  eagerly  seeking  a  sub- 


22  INDIANA 

stitute  for  the  hickory  which  seems  invaluable  for  shafts; 
the  supply  of  the  country  may  last  ten  years  longer ;  that  of 
Indiana  is  practically  gone.  Another  tree  that  furnished 
material  for  the  finest  furniture  was  the  wild  cherry ;  it  has 
almost  disappeared  commercially.  The  chestnut,  the  tulip, 
often  known  as  yellow  poplar,  the  maples,  white  pine,  and 
many  other  valuable  varieties  flourished  in  Indiana.  Fifty 
years  ago,  Indianapolis  was  the  center  of  a  wonderful  forest 
area.  Today,  one  comes  across  an  occasional  saw  mill,  but 
very  little  timber  is  cut  in  the  state,  and  a  great  deal  of  lum- 
ber, nearly  the  entire  consumption,  is  imported.  Of  course 
there  are  trees ;  of  the  total  area  of  the  state  approximating 
twenty-three  and  a  quarter  million  acres,  the  township  as- 
sessors' reports  for  1914  showed  some  2,369,712  acres  in 
timber  on  the  farms.  This  timber  is,  however,  almost  en- 
tirely second  growth  and  largely  of  undesirable  varieties, 
and  it  will  not  be  ripe  for  years,  if  it  ever  matures.  There 
are  large  sections  of  the  state  where  the  woods  are  annually 
"cleaned"  by  fire,  and  there  are  other  sections  where  the 
rate  of  decay  seems  to  exceed  the  rate  of  growth.  The  fire 
kills  seedlings  and  often  injures  or  kills  large  trees;  the  ex- 
cessive decay  arises  from  the  fact  that  many  trees  have 
started  as  sprouts  from  old  stumps  which  rot,  leaving  their 
progeny  an  easy  prey  to  the  destructive  agents.  In  spite 
of  these  facts,  Professor  Stanley  Coulter,  of  Purdue  Univer- 
sity, believes  that  there  is  still  enough  wooded  area  in  the 
state  to  maintain  permanently  the  wood  working  industries 
and  to  supply  the  farms,  if  only  these  tracts  be  carefully 
handled. 

The  result  of  this  forest  destruction  for  farms  and  for 
lumber  has  been  a  tremendous  change  in  the  conditions  of 
stream  flow  in  the  state.  A  survey  of  the  Wabash  River 
made  in  1908  developed  the  fact  that  along  the  entire  course 
there  are  few  first  class  woodlots,  and,  indeed,  so  few  trees 
that  banks  are  ill  protected  from  the  undermining  action  of 
the  water.  Whereas  six  decades  back  steamboats  could  as- 
cend the  Wabash  as  far  as  Delphi  as  late  in  the  year  as 
April,  now  the  river  is  in  such  shape  that  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment engineers  recently  refused  to  recommend  any  at- 
tempt to  improve  it.  The  reason  for  this  deterioration  of 
the  Wabash  as  a  navigable  stream  is  very  simple  to  the 
present  generation.  Deforestation  has  taken  out  of  the  soil 
the  roots  of  the  trees.  Without  the  intervention  of  the 


TREES  23 

leaves  all  the  rain  reaches  the  ground,  whereas  a  large 
amount  would  be  intercepted  by  a  forest  cover.  This  ex- 
cessive amount  of  rain  water  reaching  the  soil  in  a  short 
time  does  not  find  a  surface  of  decaying  leaves  to  soak  it  up, 
and  so  more  readily  flows  off.  Moreover,  the  tree  roots  be- 
ing gone,  the  soil  is  easily  washed  with  the  water.  As  the 
soil  layer  grows  thinner  and  thinner,  its  absorbing  power 
diminishes,  and  the  rain  finds  its  way  more  quickly  and 
more  completely  into  the  stream.  If  the  slope  is  gentle, 
some  grasses  may  hold  the  soil  back  and  prevent  this  rapid 
erosion;  on  the  other  hand,  where  the  slope  is  steep,  not 
even  blue  grass  can  stop  the  formation  of  gullies  in  the 
fields.  Today,  the  snow  probably  melts  more  rapidly,  hav- 
ing less  shade  than  of  old.  For  these  reasons,  the  spring 
freshets  are  more  violent  and  less  lasting,  since  all  the 
changes  contribute  to  a  rapid  run-off  of  the  precipitation 
and  of  the  melting  snows.  It  is  by  no  means  unusual  for  the 
river  to  take  a  great  deal  of  soil  from  one  farm,  carry  it 
away,  and  drop  it  on  another  man's  field.  Where  there  is 
a  break  in  the  current,  the  sand  and  gravel  may  be  left. 
Thus  is  navigation  an  impossibility,  because  so  much  water 
comes  at  the  freshet  season  and  after  each  rain,  and  so  little 
is  left  for  the  flow  between  times,  and  because  these  floods 
result  in  a  more  rapid  shifting  of  bars.  In  addition,  agri- 
culture is  damaged  by  the  several  forms  of  soil  depletion 
described. 

The  situation  on  the  Wabash  has  been  detailed.  Sim- 
ilar phenomena  appear  in  many  other  parts  of  the  state. 
Mr.  Glenn  Culbertson,  who  made  a  study  of  several  counties 
in  southern  Indiana,  discovered  that  nearly  one-half  of  a 
rain  now  runs  off  in  the  streams,  whereas  in  a  normal  coun- 
try, with  forested  slopes,  the  run-off  is  about  a  sixth.  He 
found  that  some  of  the  hill  farms  have  lost  from  one  to 
three  and  even  four  feet  of  soil  in  the  twenty-five  years 
they  have  been  cleared  Thousands  of  acres  once  deemed 
splendid  farm  land  have  been  completely  ruined.  The 
people  are  leaving  the  hills  and  seeking  the  bottom  or  rolling 
lands  for  their  farms,  altho  they  used  to  consider  the 
hill  lands  better.  The  uplands  are  being  left  for  trees,  but 
with  a  depleted  soil  that  makes  forest  growth  slow  and  pre- 
carious. Finally,  he  found  that  streams  which  formerly 
furnished  good  water  power  ten  months  in  the  year  are  now 
void  of  flowing  water,  perhaps  a  majority  of  the  time.  This 


24  INDIANA 

deterioration  is  not  confined  to  the  south,  for  an  investiga- 
tion of  water  powers  made  under  the  auspices  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Geology  and  Natural  Resources  in  the  summers  of 
1909  and  1910  disclosed  similar  phenomena  all  over  the 
state.  The  disastrous  floods  of  1913  on  the  Wabash,  the 
Whitewater,  and  the  White  River,  as  well  as  on  many  minor 
streams,  seem  to  have  been  in  large  part  made  possible  by 
deforestation. 

So  the  loss  of  her  timber  has  robbed  Indiana  of  her 
supply  of  raw  materials  for  large  wood-using  industries, 
has  ruined  streams  for  navigation  and  water  power,  has 
caused  flood  damages,  and  has  spoiled  large  areas  of  the  rich 
soil  with  which  they  were  originally  blessed. 

Forestry. 

About  twenty  years  ago  this  forest  depletion  began  to 
impress  itself  upon  the  leaders  in  thot,  and  a  desire  grew 
to  provide  some  way  of  perpetuating  the  timber  supply.  As 
a  result  the  General  Assembly  of  1899  passed  a  law  providing 
that  any  tract  of  land,  not  more  than  an  eighth  of  a  farm  in 
extent  might  be  counted  as  part  of  the  permanent  forest 
reserve,  provided  there  were  a  minimum  number  of  trees  to 
the  acre,  not  more  than  one-fifth  of  which  might  be  cut  in 
any  one  year,  provided  the  tract  was  not  used  as  pasture 
until  the  trees  were  at  least  four  inches  in  diameter,  and 
provided  all  the  trees  that  died  or  were  removed  be  replaced. 
All  such  land  was  to  be  assessed,  for  purposes  of  taxation,  at 
the  nominal  value  of  $1.00  per  acre.  The  law  absolutely 
failed  to  accomplish  its  purpose,  for,  altho  over  fifteen  hun- 
dred farmers  attempted  to  take  advantage  of  the  provisions 
of  the  statute,  a  very  small  percentage,  only  twenty-four  per- 
sons in  the  first  four  years,  were  able  to  fulfill  the  conditions. 
Six  years  later  the  enactment  was  repealed. 

Previous  to  this  repeal,  the  State  Board  of  Forestry 
was  organized  under  authority  of  an  act  of  1901.  It  con- 
sists of  five  members  appointed  to  represent  the  Hardwood 
Lumber  Dealers'  Association  of  Indiana,  The  Retail  Lumber 
Dealers'  Association  of  Indiana,  the  Faculty  of  Purdue  Uni- 
versity, farmers,  and  foresters.  The  Board  maintains  an  of- 
fice in  Indianapolis  under  the  supervision  of  a  paid  secretary 
and  is  required  to  collect  and  work  up  into  available  form  in- 
formation concerning  forest  preservation,  timber  culture, 
and  wood  uses,  to  recommend  plans  for  forest  preservation 


TREES  25 

and  timber  culture  in  Indiana,  and  to  plan  forest  reserves,  es- 
pecially supervising  the  State  Forest  Reservation  at  Henry- 
ville  in  Clark  County.  This  tract  of  some  two  thousand 
acres  was  purchased  in  1903  with  $16,000  appropriated  from 
the  State  for  that  purpose.  The  General  Assembly  at  the 
same  time  set  aside  a  dollar  and  a  half  per  acre  per  year  for 
management.  The  land  was  part  of  the  grant  of  one  hun- 
dred fifty  thousand  acres  given  by  Virginia  in  1784  to  George 
Rogers  Clark  as  a  reward  for  his  soldiers.  It  was  com- 
posed, when  purchased  by  the  state,  of  seventeen  farms  that 
had  been  cropped  without  rotation,  exhausted,  and  then 
abandoned.  The  trees  had  been  cut  off  most  of  the  area, 
and  other  parts  had  been  burned  over.  The  soil  is  mostly  a 
fine  yellow  clay  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  a  soft  shale 
colored  by  iron.  In  places  there  is  a  rich  vegetable  deposit, 
but  much  of  this  has  been  destroyed  by  fire.  Cut  up  by  nu- 
merous ravines,  some  so  inaccessible  that  the  original  tim- 
ber has  never  been  felled,  and  rising  at  its  western  end  to  the 
Knob,  a  full  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  the  tract  is  emi- 
nently fitted  for  practical  forestry  experiments,  as  it  is  just 
such  land  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state  that  may  possibly 
be  found  available  for  profitable  forest  culture. 

On  this  scenically  superb  piece  of  property  the  Board 
of  Forestry  has  worked  effectively.  Very  important  from 
the  psychological  point  of  view  is  the  fact  that  it  has  been 
improved  with  a  substantial  residence  for  the  custodian,  a 
well  planned  lawn  of  five  acres  between  this  house  and  the 
interurban  railway,  and  a  road  running  the  entire  three 
miles  from  the  dwelling  house  to  the  summit  of  the  Knob. 
This  road  has  numerous  branches  that  make  the  whole  area 
accessible  to  the  worker  and  to  observers.  The  real  work 
of  the  Board,  however,  has  been  much  less  showy.  About 
eighty  separate  tracts  have  been  used  for  experimental 
purposes,  trees  of  many  varieties  having  been  set  out  by 
different  methods  and  in  different  situations.  Various  ways 
of  cleaning  have  been  tried,  and  tree  growth  has  been  ac- 
curately measured.  Studies  have  been  made  in  botany  and 
in  tree  enemies  and  diseases.  The  result  is  the  accumula- 
tion of  a  mass  of  useful  information  that  is  published  in 
the  annual  reports  of  the  Board  or  is  on  file  in  the  Indiana- 
polis office.  The  Reservation  was  not  conceived  as  a  money- 
making  proposition,  altho  the  men  at  first  in  charge  made 
the  mistake  of  cutting  some  of  the  best  timber  that  then 


26  INDIANA 

remained  in  order  to  make  it  appear  that  there  was  money 
in  forestry,  for  the  state.  Rather,  the  purpose  has  been  to 
test  the  theories  of  forestry  in  their  application  to  southern 
Indiana,  to  discover  what  forest  trees  can  be  grown  with 
profit,  what  soils  they  demand,  what  enemies  they  attract, 
and  how  these  enemies  may  be  overcome,  what  cultivation 
is  needed,  what  sowing  or  planting  method  brings  best  re- 
sults, what  are  the  best  seasons  for  harvesting,  and  how  to 
prepare  soils  for  planting.  This  is  a  task  of  years  that,  it 
is  hoped,  will  culminate  in  a  large  state-owned  nursery  to 
insure  planters  the  very  best  seedlings  for  their  own  par- 
ticular use.  One  of  the  most  interesting  conclusions  is  that 
"yellow  poplar,  black  walnut,  and  ash  grow  as  rapidly  as 
catalpa  and  black  locust."  It  has  also  been  demonstrated 
that  cleaning  the  land  of  brush  is  valuable  to  the  trees. 

During  this  development  of  the  Reservation,  especially 
while  Mr.  Charles  C.  Deam  was  its  paid  secretary,  the  office 
of  the  Board  has  done  effective  work.  The  annual  reports 
have  been  quite  widely  circulated,  press  items  have  been 
furnished,  exhibits  have  been  prepared  for  the  state  fair 
and  for  other  fairs,  private  plantings  have  been  visited  and 
information  has  been  gathered  or  advice  given,  prizes  have 
been  awarded  school  children  for  essays  on  forestry,  and, 
in  short,  a  good  degree  of  interest  in  forestry  has  been 
worked  up.  The  present  need  of  the  Board  is  an  expert 
field  agent  who  can  render  tree  planters  a  consultation  ser- 
vice at  a  nominal  fee.  Professor  Coulter  now  receives  many 
letters  of  inquiry,  and  is  sending  out  an  expert  from  the 
faculty  of  Purdue  in  cases  where  it  seems  that  personal  visit 
and  consultation  will  be  profitable. 

The  State  has  attempted  to  aid  forestry  in  other  ways. 
In  1913  there  was  passed  a  bill  authorizing  local  Forestry 
Associations  to  be  formed  to  hold  forest  land  obtained  by 
gift  or  purchase.  These  Associations  were  made  legitimate 
objects  of  donations  from  counties,  cities,  and  townships. 
They  were  required  to  cultivate  the  land  in  trees  useful  for 
lumber  or  for  other  purposes,  to  allow  the  use  of  the  tract 
as  a  play  ground  whenever  such  use  would  not  injure  the 
trees,  and  to  welcome  visits  of  forestry  classes  from  the 
schools  or  universities.  In  return  for  these  public  services, 
the  forest  reserves  of  these  associations  are  tax  exempt. 
How  many  of  them  have  been  organized,  no  one  seems  able 
to  say.  But  it  is  certain  that  quite  a  number  have  started. 


TREES  27 

The  use  of  such  an  association  is  twofold.  In  the  first  place, 
it  will  enable  experimentation  to  be  made  in  different  sec- 
tions of  the  state,  and,  in  the  second  place,  it  will  help  in 
teaching  children  the  values  and  uses  of  trees. 

There  are  two  other  laws  which  are  potentially  useful 
in  the  development  of  forestry  in  Indiana.  The  first,  passed 
in  1905,  makes  a  person  who  allows  a  fire  to  spread  to  the 
woods  of  another,  liable  for  full  damages  plus  a  fine  of  not 
less  than  five  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars,  and  requires  the 
road  supervisor  of  the  township  to  employ  aid  in  fighting 
forest  fires  that  occur  in  his  district.  The  other  law  for- 
bids the  shipment  of  any  nursery  stock  without  a  certificate 
that  the  trees  are  free  from  San  Jose  scale,  and  requires 
dealers  to  be  licensed  after  an  examination  by  the  State  En- 
tomologist. This  statute  will  primarily  affect  the  owners 
of  orchards,  but  it  will  also  have  its  bearing  in  the  future  on 
forest  plantings. 

With  the  Indiana  Forestry  Association  advocating 
plantings  and  with  the  State  Board  of  Forestry  experiment- 
ing and  offering  advice,  there  has  been  no  great  develop- 
ment of  forestry  in  this  state.  Ten  years  ago  or  more,  a 
great  many  farmers  tried  to  raise  their  own  fence  posts, 
setting  out  black  locust  or  catalpa  speciosa;  indeed,  in  1902 
the  State  Statistician  reported  over  two  hundred  thousand 
trees  as  having  been  set  out.  Excellent  results  were  ex- 
pected from  both  species.  It  was  thot  that  the  catalpa 
would  grow  rapidly,  making  in  sixteen  years  an  excellent 
telegraph  pole.  Because  of  the  peculiar  chemical  character- 
istics of  its  wood,  the  catalpa  makes  very  lasting  fence  posts 
(the  record  is  as  high  as  eighty  years  service),  splendid  rail- 
way ties,  and  strong  durable  poles.  Catalpa  wood  is  avail- 
able, moreover,  for  a  great  number  of  commercial  uses,  such 
as  cabinet  making,  furniture,  house  trim,  railway  coaches, 
bent  forms,  and  even  for  paper.  The  Big  Four  set  out  thir- 
ty-five acres  near  Brightwood,  and  the  Vandalia  planted 
along  its  tracks  between  Indianapolis  and  Richmond.  Not 
all  these  plantings,  however,  turned  out  profitably.  The 
Pennsylvania  seedlings  were  of  the  Bignonioides  variety  of 
catalpa  rather  than  the  Speciosa,  and  grew  to  resemble  apple 
trees.  The  planting  near  Brightwood  did  not  thrive  because 
the  soil  was  not  right.  Many  of  the  farmers  found  a  dread 
enemy  in  the  catalpa  sphinx  and  others  were  given  the  wrong 
variety  by  ignorant  or  careless  nurserymen.  The  black 


28  INDIANA 

locust,  too,  was  a  disappointment,  for  it  is  a  frequent  vic- 
tim of  borers.  In  the  1913  report  of  the  State  Board  of 
Forestry,  Professor  Coulter  expressed  the  belief  that  of 
many  plantings  inspected,  seventy  per  cent  were  not  profit- 
able if  the  wood  could  be  marketed  at  the  best  prices,  and  a 
large  proportion  of  the  others  were  not  completely  success- 
ful. On  the  other  hand,  there  were  men  who  were  ex- 
tremely successful,  especially  with  the  catalpa,  Mr.  J.  E. 
Coen,  of  Montgomery  County,  for  instance,  claiming  to 
make  an  annual  net  profit  of  over  twenty  dollars  per  acre. 

The  facts,  however,  do  not  warrant  the  conclusion  that 
there  is  no  prospect  for  profitable  commercial  forestry  in 
Indiana.  The  state  contains  a  great  deal  of  hill  land  now 
in  unprofitable  farms.  Many  of  these  could  be  turned  into 
forests  to  positive  advantage.  The  lesson  of  the  past,  how- 
ever, must  be  learned.  First,  interest  must  be  figured  on 
the  value  of  the  land,  on  the  taxes  paid,  on  the  labor  of 
planting  and  cleaning,  and  on  other  incidental  expenses. 
Second,  the  right  tree  for  the  soil  must  be  selected.  Third, 
the  right  methods  of  planting  and  of  care  must  be  adopted. 
With  these  precautions,  the  experience  of  those  who  have 
been  successful  makes  it  very  evident  that  there  is  a  place 
for  profitable  forest  planting.  This  place  is  not  as  large  as 
some  enthusiasts  are  inclined  to  believe,  for  so  much  of  the 
land  is  much  more  valuable  for  farming  than  for  timber  cul- 
ture, and  yet  it  is  a  much  larger  sphere  than  is  at  present 
commercially  realized. 

There  are  three  other  commercial  problems  connected 
with  the  trees  of  Indiana.  In  the  first  place  there  is  the  lit- 
tle realized  problem  in  the  management  of  the  woodlot.  The 
woodlot  is  designed  to  furnish  the  timber  needed  for  con- 
sumption on  the  farm  as  fuel,  posts,  poles,  and  other  small 
lumber,  whereas  the  forest  planting  is  designed  to  furnish  a 
product  for  the  commercial  market.  Many  a  woodlot  is  a 
failure,  because  its  owner  does  not  realize  that  there  is  a 
problem  of  management.  He  may  use  it  for  pasture,  and 
so  prevent  the  growth  of  new  trees,  he  may  fail  to  clean  it 
and  thus  prevent  the  maturing  of  seedlings  or  encourage  the 
production  of  agents  of  destruction  in  rotting  stumps,  he 
may  allow  the  reproduction  to  take  place  without  guidance 
and  so  find  himself  with  trees  of  no  particular  value,  he  may 
allow  the  growth  to  be  too  thin  and  so  assure  himself  poorly 
formed  trees,  or  he  may  have  a  lot  of  assorted  ages,  choice 


TREES  29 

varieties,  well  formed  thrifty  specimens,  and  yet  not  be 
making  money  because  he  has  devoted  to  the  woodlot  too 
much  time  or  too  good  land.  However,  a  great  number  of 
farms  in  many  sections  of  the  state  contain  some  acres  that 
are  not  adapted  to  profitable  tilling.  Only  such  tracts  can 
economically  be  devoted  to  the  woodlot,  save  in  exceptional 
circumstances.  Of  course  there  are  untillable  tracts  that 
cannot  be  wisely  used  for  producing  wood. 

Suppose  the  land  is  at  hand,  land  that  has  no  better 
function  than  the  production  of  wood.  Then  there  are  a 
great  many  questions  that  must  be  answered  by  the  farmer. 
In  most  cases  he  is  incapable  of  solving  these  problems 
without  assistance,  for  his  business  has  never  been  trees — 
at  least  he  has  hardly  regarded  trees  as  a  farm  crop.  The 
state  now  furnishes  him  with  a  source  of  reliable  aid  in  the 
Board  of  Forestry  which  stands  ready  to  advise  him  of  the 
most  probable  adaptability  of  his  soil,  and  of  the  varieties 
best  suited  to  his  purpose.  This  organization  can,  more- 
over, offer  him  expert  advice  on  methods  of  planting,  cul- 
tivation, and  protection.  Thus  the  way  has  been  opened 
for  a  really  scientific  conduct  of  the  woodlot  that  will  make 
it  a  profitable  part  of  the  farm. 

Nuts. 

A  new  wood  industry  is  now  trying  itself  out  in  Indiana. 
Native  to  the  state  are  a  number  of  excellent  nuts,  the  but- 
ternut, the  black  walnut,  the  hazel  nut,  the  beech  nut,  the 
shagbark  hickories,  and  the  pecans.  The  trees  which  pro- 
duce these  nuts  have  been  disappearing  fast,  but  there  still 
remain  a  large  number  of  specimens  that  bear  exceptional 
fruit.  Perhaps  the  most  promising  species  is  the  pecan. 
About  twenty-five  years  ago  the  cultivation  of  this  nut  was 
begun  in  the  southern  states,  and  the  culture  is  now  well 
established  in  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Georgia, 
Florida,  and  Texas.  The  success  of  the  southern  ventures 
stimulated  a  number  of  Indiana  men  to  investigate  the  pos- 
sibilities of  an  extension  of  the  commercial  pecan  area  to 
their  own  state.  M.  J.  Niblack,  Thomas  P.  Littlepage,  R. 
L.  McCoy,  J.  F.  Wilkinson,  and  Professor  C.  G.  Woodbury 
of  Purdue  have  devoted  large  amounts  of  time  to  seeking 
out  good  trees  from  which  to  graft  or  bud  others.  They 
have  found  that  the  seedlings  do  not  come  true  to  the  type 
of  the  parent,  and  that  every  specimen  has  its  individuality. 


30  INDIANA 

However,  they  have  succeeded  in  locating  about  a  dozen 
trees  ranging  from  the  "Hodge,"  situated  in  Illinois  a  few 
miles  southwest  of  Terre  Haute,  to  the  "Major"  and  the 
"Hinton,"  across  the  river  from  Evansville.  Sonie  of  these 
trees  furnish  nuts  as  large  as  the  best  from  the  south;  all 
give  nuts  that  crack  easily,  afford  excellent  meats,  and  at- 
tain fair  size ;  all  are  regular  bearers  of  large  crops.  From 
these  parent  trees  a  large  number  of  seedlings  have  been 
grafted  and  several  orchards  set  out.  These  grafted  stocks 
stand  transplanting  well,  and  bear  within  a  few  years. 
Altho  they  seem  to  do  best  in  rich  bottom  lands,  alluvial 
soil,  or  cut-over  pine  tracts,  the  range  seems  to  be  pretty 
wide  in  Indiana  south  of  the  latitude  of  Terre  Haute,  but  a 
graft  will  not  do  well  much  north  of  the  parent  tree. 

Mr.  Littlepage  and  others  of  the  exponents  of  pecan 
raising  in  Indiana  maintain  that  there  is  little  danger  of 
overproduction  because  the  large  supply,  while  lowering  the 
market  price,  will,  nevertheless,  create  a  larger  market. 
The  pecan  is  one  of  the  finest  nuts  that  the  world  produces, 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  its  use  should  not  be  greatly 
expanded.  Of  course  there  are  years  of  poor  crops,  yet  the 
bearing  of  well  chosen  pecan  trees  is  more  certain  than  that 
of  apple  or  peach  trees.  Just  what  is  the  future  of  pecan 
raising  in  Indiana  none  can  tell,  yet  the  men  who  have  been 
experimenting  are  sanguine  that  the  state  furnishes  both 
the  proper  soils  and  the  choice  varieties,  and  that  wisely  ex- 
pended efforts  will  be  rewarded  with  large  financial  success. 

There  are  two  other  nuts  which  seem  to  promise  profit- 
able culture  in  Indiana,  the  shagbark  hickory  and  the  black 
walnut.  Both  are  delicious  nuts  of  high  commercial  value, 
both  have  been  tried  out  in  this  climate  with  some  degree  of 
success.  They  do  not  mature  as  quickly  as  the  pecans  but 
they  are,  at  least,  to  be  considered  possible  additions  to  the 
list  of  the  products  of  the  state. 

Certainly  one  suggestion  is  worth  while.  A  great 
many  trees  are  planted  for  the  purpose  of  giving  shade  both 
in  yards  and  along  the  highways.  Some  of  the  nut  trees, 
particularly  the  pecans,  are  not  only  splendid  shade  trees, 
but  give  an  additional  satisfaction  in  their  toothsome  pro- 
duct. 

Orchards. 

The  third  of  the  additional  problems  connected  with 
the  trees  of  Indiana  in  their  commercial  aspects  is  that  of 


TREES  31 

the  orchards.  Indiana  is  not  one  of  the  leading  states  in 
the  production  of  apples  for  sale.  Probably  the  chief  reason 
for  this  is  the  fact  that  much  of  her  land  is  so  admirably 
adapted  to  the  raising  of  grain  that  the  fruits  have  been 
regarded  as  mere  conveniences;  it  has  been  felt  that  every 
farm  should  have  its  orchard,  generally  a  small  one.  More- 
over, the  ordinary  farm  crops  are  produced  with  less  hazard 
and  yield  a  larger  return  on  the  investment  for  the  short 
run — it  takes  more  capital  to  start  an  orchard  than  to  finance 
a  single  ordinary  crop.  Nevertheless  in  1910  Indiana  pro- 
duced more  apples  than  did  Oregon  by  half  a  million  bushels. 
The  difference,  however,  was  more  than  counterbalanced  by 
the  fact  that  very  few  of  the  Indiana  apples  reach  the  mar- 
ket, less  than  three  hundred  thousand  bushels  having  been 
sold  from  the  farms  in  1913.  There  are  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  Indiana  can  become  one  of  the  leading  apple 
states  in  the  country,  if  her  resources  are  properly  utilized. 
In  the  first  place,  her  apples  possess  a  flavor  which  is  gener- 
ally considered  far  superior  to  that  obtained  in  Oregon,  a 
taste  that  is  excelled  by  the  product  of  few  states  if  any. 
In  the  second  place,  not  only  does  Indianapolis  furnish  a 
market  that  consumes  more  apples  than  Indiana  has  ever 
been  able  to  supply,  but  the  transportation  facilities  all  over 
the  commonwealth  are  so  good,  and  the  proximity  to  the 
largest  Eastern  cities  is  such  that  freight  costs  should  be 
low  to  the  Indiana  grower.  Third,  the  state  contains  much 
hilly  land  that  is  not  well  adapted  to  farming  purposes,  but 
which,  selling  as  it  does  for  from  twenty-five  to  a  hundred 
dollars  an  acre,  can  be  set  out  to  apples  with  good  prospects 
of  realizing  attractive  profits.  Fourth,  the  expense  of  pro- 
duction should  be  normally  less  in  Indiana  than  in  Oregon, 
for  the  cost  both  of  living  and  of  wages  is  lower  in  the  east- 
ern state.  Finally,  the  demand  for  apples  is  so  large  that 
there  is  small  danger  of  overproduction.  Indiana  has  one 
great  disadvantage  to  overcome,  however,  in  the  start  of  the 
western  states  which  have  well  organized  cooperative  mar- 
keting associations  and  an  established  reputation  in  the 
great  selling  centers.  This  start  can  be  overcome  only 
with  hard  labor  and  good  head  work.  In  the  first  place,  it 
is  necessary  to  do  what  a  few  men  in  the  state  have  already 
done  with  profit,  to  make  apple  growing  a  primary  business, 
to  study  it  thoroly  with  a  view  to  having  only  thrifty 
trees  of  good  bearing  quality,  producing  excellent  apples. 


32  INDIANA 

Second,  these  trees  must  be  intelligently  cared  for,  they 
must  be  properly  set  out,  pruned  and  sprayed,  and  the  apples 
must  be  thinned.  Third,  products  of  the  orchard  cannot  be 
sold  at  good  prices  unless  they  are  tastefully  and  honestly 
packed — packed  so  that  the  contents  of  every  box  are  uni- 
form and  true  to  the  sample.  Fourth,  the  transportation 
must  be  carefully  watched  to  see  that  the  routing  is  such  as 
to  bring  the  fruit  most  promptly  to  the  market,  and  to  be 
sure  that  the  correct  refrigeration  is  afforded.  Much  good 
fruit  is  greatly  damaged  in  transit.  Finally,  markets  must 
be  intelligently  studied  in  order  that  the  best  prices  be 
obtained.  It  seems  as  if  fruit  growing  cannot  be  made  pro- 
fitable by  a  large  number  of  men  without  cooperative  mar- 
keting organizations.  The  citrus  fruit  growers  of  Califor- 
nia, and  the  apple  growers  of  Oregon  and  of  Nova  Scotia 
found  that  as  long  as  they  competed  among  themselves  they 
were  victims  of  a  system  that  required  sales  thru  commis- 
sion men,  or  speculators.  With  organized  cooperative  sell- 
ing associations,  they  were  able  to  employ  the  best  market 
experts  to  secure  for  them  top  prices  in  the  available  mar- 
kets; they  were  able  effectively  to  approach  the  railways, 
sometimes  thru  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
and  to  secure  proper  shipping  facilities;  they  were  able  to 
standardize  their  product,  packing  identically  in  a  common 
warehouse,  and  adopting  brands  that  have  won  recognition 
for  honesty  and  quality;  they  have  been  able  to  club  their 
experience  and  to  command  the  best  wisdom  of  experts  as  to 
the  management  of  their  orchards.  It  is  hard  for  one  in- 
dividual to  establish  his  brand,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  best  market  for  him  varies  annually  and  during 
the  seasons.  In  this  respect  alone  the  cooperative  principle 
more  than  justifies  its  existence.  Cooperation  has,  as  yet, 
failed  to  spread  very  widely  in  Indiana,  but,  as  close  as 
Michigan  it  is  successfully  coping  with  the  problem  of  sell- 
ing grapes,  and  in  Ohio  two  such  associations  are  satisfac- 
torily handling  apples.  Of  course  a  number  of  individuals, 
probably  a  large  number,  can  succeed  in  establishing  good 
markets.  But  it  seems  reasonable  that  real  success  in  the 
orchard  business  cannot  be  realized  in  Indiana  until  the  far- 
mers discover  the  value  of  cooperation  and  learn  how  to  co- 
operate as  have  other  farmers. 

Of  late  considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  de- 
veloping the  apple  possibilities  of  the  state.     The  Indiana 


TREES  33 

Horticultural  Society  has  been  agitating  the  matter  and 
disseminating  information  in  its  conferences,  and  the  In- 
diana Apple  Show  has  become  one  of  the  big  events  of  the 
year.  The  effects  of  this  show  are  varied,  but  it  may  be 
well  to  note  that  it  has  greatly  improved  the  quality  of  fruit 
by  raising  the  standards  of  the  growers.  By  the  third  year 
it  was  said  by  Professor  Woodbury  of  Purdue  that  the  know- 
ledge of  the  farmers  had  increased  from  two  to  three  hun- 
dred per  cent.  Apples  that  would  have  won  prizes  in  the 
first  show  were  refused  admittance  to  the  third.  Moreover, 
the  show  has  given  an  opportunity  to  preach  right  methods 
of  care  for  the  orchards,  by  spraying  and  pruning.  And, 
finally,  the  show  has  served  to  advertise  the  excellence  of 
the  Indiana  apples,  and  to  increase  the  demand  for  them, 
both  within  and  without  the  state.  Another  agency  that 
has  been  working  for  the  betterment  of  orcharding  in  the 
state  is  the  system  of  County  Agents  who  have  held  a  great 
many  pruning  demonstrations  and  who  are  constantly  din- 
ning into  the  minds  of  farmers  the  necessity  of  spraying 
their  trees  in  order  to  keep  the  fruit  absolutely  sound. 
Demonstrations  of  the  value  of  spraying  are  causing  many 
orchard  owners  to  avail  themselves  of  this  new  and  power- 
ful tool  against  nature.  In  1915  the  General  Assembly 
passed  a  law  which  has  in  it  great  possibilities.  Ten  or 
more  persons  owning  contiguous  lands  on  which  are  sit- 
uated orchards  or  other  fruits  may  form  voluntary  associa- 
tions establishing  quarantine  districts  which  may  not  be 
over  twenty  square  miles  in  area  and  which  shall  be  coterm- 
inous with  the  lands  of  the  members.  These  Horticultural 
Associations  are  to  be  financed  by  assessments  upon  the 
members,  and  are  to  cooperate  with  the  state  entomologist 
and  the  county  agents  in  extirpating  or  limiting  the  spread 
of  insects  and  plant  diseases.  They  may  hire  experts  to 
give  advice  and  active  service,  and  they  may  buy  machines 
and  wagons  necessary  for  spraying.  Thus  it  will  be  possible 
to  realize  some  degree  of  cooperation  in  caring  for  orchards, 
and  each  will  be  protected  additionally  by  the  fact  that  a 
wide  area  will  be  cared  for.  An  enterprising  man  need  not 
be  surrounded  by  infected  orchards.  Moreover,  the  cooper- 
ation should  make  spraying  cheaper. 

It  would  seem  that  there  are  large  possibilities  for  the 
upbuilding  of  a  profitable  apple  raising  industry  in  Indiana, 
possibilities  that  are  beginning  to  promise  actual  realization. 


34  INDIANA 

But  in  order  that  the  orchards  may  attain  the  development 
they  deserve  men  must  make  apple  growing  their  prime 
business,  and  probably  they  must  learn  to  cooperate. 

Summary. 

Indiana's  trees,  then,  present  a  complicated  problem. 
The  solution  may  be  summarized  as  follows :  A  great  deal 
of  the  land  in  the  state  either  is  unfit  for  ordinary  field  crops, 
or,  being  on  hill  sides  cannot  be  used  for  field  crops  without 
excessive  erosion  and  rapid  deterioration.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  these  lands  can  be  profitably  devoted  to  trees.  On 
many  farms  there  is  an  opportunity  for  a  woodlot  that  will 
be  worth  while  by  saving  expenses  for  fuel  and  posts;  and 
other  tracts  can  well  be  devoted  to  raising  apples.  There 
seems  to  be  an  increasing  certainty  that  profitable  invest- 
ments may  be  made  in  pecans  in  the  suitable  lands  found 
south  of  the  latitude  of  Terre  Haute.  Finally,  there  are 
still  other  lands  which  can  be  used  for  actual  silviculture,  or 
the  raising  of  lumber.  All  these  possibilities  can  now  be 
realized  because  there  has  already  been  obtained  a  mass  of 
information  available  to  any  one  who  desires  to  invest  in 
trees. 


*  Note.  The  problems  of  floods  resulting  from  defores- 
tation have  not  been  solved.  The  1915  General  Assembly 
passed  so-called  flood  laws.  These,  however,  fail  to  reach 
the  fundamental  problem,  but  are  designed  to  provide  for 
the  safe  carriage  of  flood  waters  past  cities. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Agriculture 

The  great  bases  of  Indiana's  wealth  are  her  soil  and  her 
climate.  Along  the  courses  of  the  Ohio,  the  Wabash,  and 
the  White  Rivers  are  deposits  of  sediment  brought  down  by 
the  spring  floods  of  centuries  to  furnish  the  nutrition  to 
abundant  crops.  The  secret  of  the  fertility  of  the  bottom 
lands  is  the  variety  of  their  composition,  for  the  waters 
bear  bits  of  eroded  minerals  from  all  parts  of  the  upper 
drainage  basins  and  set  them  down  in  combinations  rich  in 
the  requisites  of  plant  life.  Back  from  the  rivers,  the  area 
south  of  the  extreme  glacial  boundary,  which  is  shown  on 
the  Oats  Map,  is  covered  with  residual  soils,  that  were 
formed  by  the  disintegration  of  the  underlying  rocks,  shales, 
sandstones,  and  limestones.  As  the  country  is  quite  hilly 
and  as  the  soils  are  not  deep,  the  rains  have  washed  away 
a  great  proportion  of  the  fertility  of  many  cleared  fields. 
This,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  there  are  too  few  constit- 
uents in  the  soil,  makes  the  land  poor  for  farming,  a  fact 
that  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  maps  in  this  chapter. 
The  hills,  however,  are  being  used  for  orchards ;  and  berries, 
cattle,  and  sheep  are  successfully  raised. 

North  of  the  Southern  Glacial  Boundary  is  the  region 
of  drift  soils.  Here  the  original  rocks  have  been  covered 
with  mineral  particles  brought  by  the  great  ice  sheets  from 
Labrador,  Wisconsin,  and  other  regions.  Particularly  in 
the  area  of  the  *Wisconsin  drift  have  the  oldest  strata  been 
deeply  buried,  for  the  average  thickness  of  this  deposit  is 
little  short  of  a  hundred  fifty  feet,  and  the  depth  ranges 
from  forty  to  five  hundred  feet.  The  surface,  which  varies 
in  character  from  the  sands  of  the  beaches  of  the  prehis- 
toric Lake  Chicago  to  the  loams  rich  in  organic  matter  of 
the  Kankakee  marshes,  is  adapted  to  the  support  of  many 

*Also  shown  on  the  Oats  Map. 


36 


INDIANA 


|X\*X!1*\*>""''»""»X**"'  i *' s*"-"*' !!••••   I • v°.A'V". '. ". i*D'EUb,v • " ! 

!^^^'OV?^iyi>^/.5TA^K.E  i  '•*•  '•*•'  !.KOS<JIUSKO  iT\^:-7-7i'T^i''7/.';Tv/; 


'    on 


OATS 

MAP 

OF 

INDIANA  , 
«~^^j,  ioM;thwi|  GUcul    Bo«Julary 

'_  f  .Vt!.--, 


AGRICULTURE  37 

crops.  Sands,  clays,  peats,  loams,  and  mucks  predominate 
in  considerable  tracts,  but  there  are  farms  which  include  a 
variety  of  soils. 

The  richness  of  the  land  is  made  available  by  the  cli- 
mate of  the  state.  While  in  all  parts  of  the  commonwealth 
the  summer  temperatures  usually  reach  ninety-five  degrees 
Farenheit,  the  hot  periods  are  seldom  prolonged  and  are  re- 
lieved by  times  of  moderate  temperatures.  The  last  killing 
frost  of  the  spring  averages  about  April  seventh  at  Evans- 
ville,  April  fourteenth  in  the  southern  third  of  the  state,  and 
May  fifth  in  the  northern  parts.  The  mean  date  of  the  oc- 
currence of  the  first  killing  frost  varies  from  October  sixth 
to  October  twenty-seventh  as  one  passes  southward.  Thus, 
the  typical  growing  season  ranges  from  approximately  one 
hundred  fifty  days  near  the  Michigan  line  to  two  hundred 
days  at  the  junction  of  the  Wabash  and  Ohio  Rivers.  More- 
over, the  rainfall  which  is  fairly  evenly  distributed  over  all 
seasons  of  the  year  is  usually  ample,  increasing  from  an 
average  of  thirty-six  inches  in  the  north  to  more  than  forty 
inches  along  the  Ohio  River.  Since  much  of  the  land  is 
rolling,  the  state  is  naturally  well  drained.  Finally,  many 
wet  fields  can  be  greatly  improved  by  tiling,  and  even  the 
marshes  of  the  Kankakee,  which  once  were  found  so  impas- 
sible that  the  existence  of  the  river  had  to  be  taken  on  faith, 
are  now  in  process  of  reclamation.  Indeed,  the  possibilities 
of  tile  pipe  and  of  drastic  drainage  laws  have  been  quite 
fully  realized  to  the  great  good  of  Indiana  farming. 

It  appears  that  Nature  has  given  Indiana  a  source  of 
vast  wealth  in  her  soil  and  in  the  climate  that  enables  this 
soil  to  be  productive. 

Extent  of  Farming  in  Indiana. 

The  Hoosiers  have  not  been  unmindful  of  Nature's 
richest  gift,  for  they  have  managed  to  include  in  their  farms 
over  nine-tenths  of  the  area  of  the  commonwealth.  Indeed, 
in  1910  the  16,931,252  acres  of  improved  agricultural  land 
included  73.4  per  cent  of  the  surface  of  the  state.  Only  in 
Iowa,  Illinois,  and  Ohio,  has  a  larger  proportion  of  the  land 
been  brought  under  cultivation,  and  thruout  the  nation  but 
one-fourth  of  the  surface  had  been  improved  at  the  time  of 
the  last  Census.  So,  altho  the  average  size  of  farms  in  In- 
diana, 98.8  acres,  was  nearly  a  third  less  than  that  of  the 
farms  of  the  whole  nation,  the  mean  farm  in  the  state,  hav- 


38  INDIANA 

ing  78.6  acres  of  improved  land,  had  then  more  acres  under 
cultivation  than  the  average  farm  of  the  nation.  The  typi- 
cal Hoosier  farm  is  between  forty-nine  and  one  hundred 
acres  in  extent,  nearly  one-third  being  in  this  class ;  another 
quarter  of  the  farms  are  one  hundred  acres,  but  less  than 
one  hundred  seventy-five.  In  the  United  States  as  a  whole 
the  proportion  of  farms  smaller  than  fifty  acres  is  one-third, 
in  Indiana,  one-ninth,  and  the  per  cent  of  farms  containing 
over  one  hundred  seventy-four  acres  is  18.2  for  the  nation, 
and  but  12.6  per  cent  for  the  commonwealth.  The  great 
significance  of  these  data  is,  first,  that  neither  poverty  like 
that  of  the  freedmen  of  the  south,  nor  poverty  like  that  of 
the  aliens  in  New  England  has  compelled  the  resort  to  small 
farms  or  to  intensive  cultivation,  and  second  that,  happily 
for  Indiana,  no  very  marked  trend  toward  large  scale  agri- 
culture has  seriously  lessened  the  potential  number  of  land 
owners. 

The  value  of  all  farm  property  in  Indiana  increased 
eighty-five  per  cent  in  the  ten  years  ending  1910  to  a  total 
little  short  of  two  billion  dollars  ($1,809,000,000),  of  which 
the  land  represented  nearly  three-fourths  and  the  buildings 
over  a  seventh,  the  implements  about  one-fortieth,  and  the 
domestic  animals  nearly  one-tenth.  This  means  that  the 
average  farmer  in  the  commonwealth  has  land  and  buildings 
worth  $7,399,  stock  worth  $807,  and  implements  and  ma- 
chinery worth  $190,  or  an  investment  equivalent  to  eighty- 
four  hundred  dollars.  This  is  an  enormous  increase  over 
forty-four  hundred  dollars,  the  mean  value  of  an  agricul- 
tural plant  in  1900. 

Pehaps  the  increase  in  the  amount  of  capital  needed  for 
the  purchase  of  a  properly  equipped  farm  is  one  of  the  great 
causes  of  the  growth  of  tenancy.  In  1910  exactly  thirty 
per  cent  of  the  Indiana  farms  were  operated  by  tenants,  as 
compared  with  twenty-eight  and  six-tenths  per  cent  in  1900 
and  twenty-three  and  seven-tenths  per  cent  in  1880.  Altho, 
in  this  respect,  Indiana  is  more  prosperous  than  the  nation 
as  a  whole,  thirty-seven  per  cent  of  the  farms  in  the  United 
States  being  tilled  by  tenants,  she  is  yet  considerably  less 
fortunate  than  the  group  of  the  East  North  Central  states 
in  which  but  twenty-seven  per  cent  of  the  farms  are  thus 
operated.  Rising  values  are,  moreover,  at  least  partly  re- 
sponsible for  a  six  per  cent  increase  in  the  proportion  of 
farms  operated  by  the  owners  but  mortgaged.  There  is  no 


AGRICULTURE  39 

doubt  but  that  the  mortgage  is  frequently  a  means  of  ob- 
taining a  farm,  but  when  for  decades  both  the  number  of 
tenants  and  the  number  of  mortgages  are  growing,  it  is  the 
inevitable  conclusion  that  it  is  becoming  ever  more  difficult 
to  achieve  unincumbered  ownership.  Altho  this  tendency 
is  by  no  means  confined  to  Indiana,  it  is  none  the  less  deplor- 
able, for  tenant  cultivation  is  rarely  as  efficient  as  that  by 
owners,  and  renters  are  apt  to  be  less  desirable  citizens  than 
freeholders  because  their  interests  are  not  permanently 
bound  up  in  those  of  the  community.  Moreover,  the  man 
who  is  paying  interest  or  rent,  in  whatever  form,  has  a 
smaller  income  than  if  he  could  pocket  the  whole  of  the  net 
return  of  the  farm.  The  increase  of  tenancy  and  of  mort- 
gages, then,  means  that  an  increasing  proportion  of  the 
earnings  of  the  farms  is  going,  not  to  the  operators,  but  to 
landlords  and  to  capitalists.  The  evil  lies  not  in  the  fact 
that  the  capitalist  enjoys  an  income,  but  in  the  fact  that  the 
operator  has  his  return  reduced. 

The  importance  of  farming  in  Indiana  is  further  indi- 
cated by  the  number  of  people  it  supports.  At  the  last  cen- 
sus, 1,143,835  individuals  lived  in  incorporated  places  of  at 
least  twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants,  and  1,557,041  in 
smaller  communities.  Of  these  rural  folk  1,257,584  lived 
altogether  outside  the  limits  of  cities  and  towns.  As  many 
who  dwell  in  the  smaller  towns  manage  farms  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  as  few  persons  outside  of  towns  are  not  de- 
pendent on  agriculture  for  their  livelihood,  it  is  safe  to  con- 
clude that  about  half  of  the  Hoosiers  are  directly  interested 
in  farming. 

The  farm  population  of  Indiana  is  remarkably  homogen- 
eous. In  1910  over  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  farm  opera- 
tors were  white  and  of  native  birth,  one  in  two  hundred  fifty 
was  colored,  and  less  than  one  in  twenty  was  white  of  for- 
eign birth.  Of  the  foreign  born  farmers  nearly  two-thirds 
were  German  and  one-eighth  British  or  Irish.  In  the  Unit- 
ed States  as  a  whole  one  farmer  in  seven  is  a  negro,  and 
one  in  ten  is  a  foreign  born  white.  No  other  northern  state 
has  so  large  a  proportion  of  native  born  among  its  white  far- 
mers, and  the  high  percentages  of  natives  in  the  southern 
commonwealth  are  accompanied  by  considerable  numbers  of 
negro  farmers.  It  is,  therefore,  safe  to  maintain  that  In- 
diana has  the  most  homogeneous  agricultural  population  of 
all  the  states.  This  racial  unity  should  make  cooperation 


40 


INDIANA 


.       t, 

.  •  •  -  •  .  •:•:•!.;—  v.'  -i  •»;  ^^f^;-r:?;;fx  x 
[  ^>f;?:^T;  ';^1/^^^:^;>:^  •  -i^r-^ 


'<~~~\s  ---  tVl          '  *  •—  ---  ;-";  ---  .  -----  T  -----  -  -----  V"'.         .     *    •    *    •        "~»  Col'imlmi  City     r-'   •        *        ".*•*«       * 


AGRICULTURE  41 

more  easy,  and  should  greatly  facilitate  the  work  of  agen- 
cies striving  to  better  agricultural  methods. 

Crops. 

Indiana  early  showed  a  wonderful  capacity  for  produc- 
ing the  cereals.  In  1860  the  Hoosiers  raised  more  wheat 
than  the  people  of  any  other  state  save  only  Illinois,  and 
more  corn  than  the  farmers  of  any  commonwealths  except 
Illinois,  Ohio,  and  Missouri.  At  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury, however,  Indiana  ranked  seventh  in  the  production  of 
wheat  and  sixth  in  corn.  During  the  next  decade  Indiana 
fell  back  to  eighth  place  among  the  states  in  wheat  raising, 
but  rose  to  third  in  corn  with  a  yield  of  195,496,000  bushels. 
The  average  crop  for  the  six  years  ending  1913  included 
about  twenty-nine  and  a  half  million  bushels  of  wheat  and 
one  hundred  fifty-seven  million  bushels  of  corn.  During 
the  last  thirty  years,  the  relative  importance  of  wheat 
among  the  cereals  has  steadily  declined,  for  in  1879  three- 
eighths  of  all  the  area  used  for  grains  was  sowed  in  wheat, 
and  in  1913  but  21.4  per  cent.  The  proportion  used  for 
corn  has  remained  about  constant,  but  that  devoted  to  oats 
has  increased  from  less  than  one-eleventh  to  21.2  per  cent. 
In  1899,  90.9  per  cent  of  the  farms  raised  corn,  59.4  wheat, 
and  37.0  oats,  while  in  1909  the  corresponding  per  cents 
were  87.9  for  corn,  48.3  for  wheat,  and  47.0  for  oats.  Cen- 
sus indications,  therefore,  point  to  a  movement  away  from 
wheat  to  oats,  while  corn  easily  holds  its  own  as  the  leading 
cereal  crop. 

Figures  for  production  and  acreage,  however,  fail  to  do 
justice  to  Indiana  as  a  cereal  producing  state,  for  her  corn 
is  of  the  highest  quality.  Hoosier  corn  growers  have  taken 
fourteen  Grand  Prizes  out  of  the  sixteen  offered  at  the 
National  Corn  Expositions  and  Indiana  corn  was  the  best 
shown  at  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition,  taking  twenty- 
three  gold  medals  and  fifty-seven  other  medals.  Different 
men  have  brought  these  prizes  to  Indiana  for  two  reasons: 
first,  the  superior  facilities  afforded  by  Nature  for  corn 
growing  in  this  commonwealth,  and,  second,  the  expert  ex- 
ertions of  the  men  themselves.  In  1913  the  land  in  Tipton 
County  bore  a  mean  crop  of  over  fifty-seven  bushels  of  corn 
per  acre;  seventeen  other  counties  produced  on  the  average 
between  forty-five  and  fifty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  twelve 
between  forty  and  forty-five,  seventeen  between  thirty-five 


42  INDIANA 

and  forty,  nine  between  thirty  and  thirty-five,  and  thirty- 
six  fewer  than  thirty.  The  mean  for  the  commonwealth  as 
a  whole  was  just  less  than  thirty-six  bushels.  In  1900  the 
average  yield  of  corn  per  acre  was  greater  in  Indiana  than 
in  any  state  in  the  Union  outside  of  New  England,  except 
Ohio.  This  is  a  very  gratifying  fact  as  the  yield  per  acre 
is  of  greater  importance  than  the  total  harvest  in  determin- 
ing profit,  for  the  fixed  expenses  of  cultivation  are  so  high 
that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  raise  corn  unless  the  crop  con- 
siderably exceeds  thirty  bushels.  The  accompanying  map 
shows  at  a  glance  the  sections  of  the  state  where  corn  is 
successfully  cultivated,  each  dot  representing  forty  thou- 
sand bushels.  With  the  exception  of  Bartholomew  County 
and  a  strip  near  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  the  corn  land 
lies  in  a  broad  belt  across  the  state  just  north  of  the  south- 
ern boundary  of  the  Wisconsin  drift. 

The  wheat  area,  also,  with  the  exceptions  of  Bartholo- 
mew County  and  the  lower  valley  of  the  Wabash,  is  north  of 
the  southern  boundary  of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  but  the  belt 
is  a  roughly  shaped  crescent  in  the  north  east  third  of  In- 
diana, the  horns  toward  Ohio.  In  this  crescent  are  included 
all  but  two  of  the  sixteen  counties  which  in  1913  produced 
over  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre.  Forty-two  other  counties 
were  so  fertile  that  the  wheat  crop  averaged  between  fifteen 
and  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  in  no  county  did  the 
mean  fall  below  ten  bushels.  It  may  be  enlightening  to  con- 
trast the  production  of  wheat  in  the  foremost  states.  In 
1909,  North  Dakota  with  an  average  crop  of  fourteen  and 
three-tenths  bushels  per  acre,  raised  nearly  one  hundred  sev- 
enteen million  bushels,  and  Kansas  at  the  rate  of  thirteen 
bushels  per  acre  raised  seventy-seven  and  a  half  million  bu- 
shels, while  Indiana  averaged  sixteen  and  three-tenths 
bushels  to  the  acre  with  a  total  crop  of  but  thirty-three  mil- 
lion bushels. 

As  in  the  case  of  corn,  the  value  of  the  wheat  crop  of 
Indiana  is  considerably  enhanced  by  the  quality  of  the  pro- 
duct. It  is  claimed  that  Indiana  wheat  makes  flour  that  is 
inferior  to  none,  and  that  is  truly  superior  for  ease  of  hand- 
ling. Experiments  in  the  department  of  Home  Economics 
at  Purdue  seem  to  bear  out  these  claims,  as  the  Indiana 
wheat  flour  requires  less  kneading  and  less  time  for  rising 
than  do  its  competitors.  So,  altho  the  Hoosier  farmers 
have  found  products  less  exhausting  to  the  soil  than  a 


AGRICULTURE 


43 


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,,,|^^^::.;^,^J^.^...:;^..?..p|;^.| 


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44  INDIANA 

steady  succession  of  wheat  crops,  they  are  able  to  raise  an 
absolutely  large  amount  of  high  grade  grain. 

In  respect  to  quantity,  the  oats  crop,  which  for  the  six 
years  ending  in  1913  averaged  more  than  forty-eight  mil- 
lion bushels,  now  exceeds  the  wheat  yield  by  half.  The  oats 
belt,  like  that  of  the  wheat,  forms  a  rough  crescent  in  the 
northern  half  of  the  state ;  the  horns,  however,  point  north. 
In  1909  the  largest  oats  crop,  one  hundred  fifty  million  bush- 
els, was  raised  in  Illinois,  and  the  next  largest  in  Iowa,  one 
hundred  twenty-eight  million,  while  Indiana  with  a  harvest 
of  fifty  million  bushels  was  the  eighth  state.  Since  in  1899 
Indiana  was  the  tenth  state  in  respect  to  the  acreage  and 
crop  of  oats,  the  commonwealth  has  really  progressed  in  the 
production  of  this  cereal. 

Altho  in  1909  Indiana,  with  a  crop  of  one  million  one 
hundred  twenty  thousand  bushels,  ranked  sixth  among  the 
commonwealths  for  the  production  of  rye,  her  crop  was  less 
than  one-fifth  that  of  Michigan,  the  leading  state.  Barley 
and  buckwheat  are  raised  in  small  quantities  by  a  few  far- 
mers, but  they  are  of  slight  importance  compared  with  corn, 
oats,  and  wheat.  Indiana's  place  as  a  cereal  raising  state 
can  hardly  be  appreciated  without  mention  of  the  fact  that 
in  1913,  of  the  total  area  of  the  commonwealth  nearly  thirty- 
six  per  cent, — considerably  over  one-third,  was  devoted  to 
the  grains.  In  1909  Indiana  stood  eighth  in  the  acreage 
planted  in  cereals,  fourth  in  the  bulk  of  product,  two  hun- 
dred eighty-one  and  a  half  million  bushels,  and  fifth  in  the 
value  of  the  cereal  crops,  $151,898,000. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  cereals  come  the  hays,  which, 
in  1909,  were  worth  $24,883,000.  With  the  exceptions  of 
alfalfa,  cow  peas,  and  soybeans,  which  are  most  extensively 
cultivated  in  the  southern  counties,  the  forage  and  hay 
crops  are  raised  in  the  northern  half  of  the  state  and  fed  to 
the  stock  without  ever  leaving  the  farm. 

Nowhere  nearly  as  valuable,  yet  essential  to  a  normal 
agricultural  development  are  the  "vegetables"  raised  in  In- 
diana. Potatoes  are  planted  all  over  the  state,  but  the  pro- 
duction for  market  has  been  carried  on  with  greatest  suc- 
cess in  the  three  northern  tiers  of  counties  where  consider- 
ably over  half  are  raised.  The  total  crop  in  1913  was  more 
than  three  million  bushels.  Even  more  narrowly  is  the 
onion  belt  delimited,  for  in  1913  seven-eighths  of  the  yield  of 
more  than  eleven  hundred  thousand  bushels  came  from  De- 


AGRICULTURE  45 

kalb,  Kosciusko,  Laporte,  Marshall,  Noble,  Starke,  Steuben, 
St.  Joseph,  and  Whiteley  Counties.  Another  vegetable 
crop  regularly  worth  half  a  million  dollars  is  that  of  toma- 
toes. The  cultivation  of  this  vegetable  centers  largely  in 
an  area  about  Tipton  County,  which  alone  produced  about  a 
sixth  of  the  1913  crop ;  there  is  also  another  largely  produc- 
tive area  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  state.  Green  peas, 
sweet  corn,  and  cucumbers  are  other  garden  vegetables 
raised  in  rather  large  quantities. 

Some  peculiar  developments  may  be  noted  in  the  ag- 
ricultural activities  of  Indiana.  For  example,  in  1909,  with 
a  product  of  over  twenty-one  million  pounds  Indiana  stood 
tenth  among  the  tobacco  raising  states.  By  1913  the  crop 
had  fallen  to  ten  million  pounds.  Altho  farmers  in  many 
parts  of  the  commonwealth  raise  a  bit  of  tobacco  for  their 
own  use,  Switzerland,  Warrick,  Ohio,  Spencer,  Jefferson, 
Dearborn,  Franklin,  Randolph,  and  Clark  counties  are  the 
localities  of  successful  commercial  production.  In  respect 
to  another  commercial  leaf  Indiana  enjoys  a  position  almost 
unique.  Nearly  all  the  mint  in  the  country  is  raised  in  the 
muck  lands  of  southern  Michigan  and  northern  Indiana. 
In  1909  the  harvest  of  about  thirty-six  thousand  pounds 
was  worth  $58,000.  The  larger  growers  distill  their  own 
oil,  but  others  take  their  peppermint  to  the  commercial 
stills.  These  northern  counties  afford  also  a  rich  hunting 
ground  for  the  collectors  of  medicinal  herbs.  A  third  field, 
small  from  the  standpoint  of  total  financial  returns,  yet  in- 
teresting because  of  the  fact  that  Indiana  ranks  third,  is 
the  cultivation  of  cantaloupes  and  watermelons.  Altho 
some  melons  are  raised  in  Elkhart,  Cass,  and  Laporte  Coun- 
ties, three-quarters  come  from  a  region  in  the  southwest, 
centering  about  Knox,  Sullivan,  Gibson,  Vigo,  Posey, 
and  Daviess  Counties.  Many  other  farm  and  garden  crops 
have  been  discovered  by  the  census  takers,  but  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  enumerate  peanuts,  broom  corn,  sunflower  seed, 
hemp,  flaxseed,  kafir  corn,  milo  maize,  emmer,  and  spelt. 
In  short,  the  state  affords  a  wide  range  of  agricultural  pro- 
ducts. 

Since  the  horticultural  products  of  Indiana  have  been 
touched  in  the  chapter  on  Trees,  it  is  sufficient  here  to  add 
that  the  northern  counties  offer  excellent  conditions  for 
vineyards.  The  campaign  of  the  Horticultural  Society  for 


46  INDIANA 

the  extension  of  vinegrowing  is  spreading  knowledge  of  the 
opportunity. 

Animal  Products. 

When  the  market  for  grain  was  poor,  a  great  many  In- 
diana farmers  used  to  "put  their  corn  in  the  smoke-house ;" 
today  that  institution  has  been  supplanted  by  the  large 
packing  establishment,  but  the  course  of  the  maize  is  not 
essentially  altered.  These  farmers  have  learned  that  by 
feeding  their  corn  to  hogs  and  cattle  they  can  recover  a 
great  part  of  the  valuable  soil  constituents  in  the  form  of 
manure,  and  thus  maintain  their  land  in  a  high  state  of  fer- 
tility, and,  at  the  same  time,  they  can  dispose  of  a  profit- 
able commercial  product  that  is  commanding  even  better 
prices.  A  comparison  of  the  Hog  Map  with  the  Corn  Map 
will  show  how  intimate  is  the  connection  between  large 
corn  crops  and  the  making  of  pork.  A  similar  relation  ex- 
ists between  the  production  of  corn  and  of  finished  beef 
cattle.  The  difference  between  the  two  great  meat  produc- 
ing industries  is  that  the  hogs  are  usually  fattened  by  the 
breeder  while  in  about  fifty  per  cent  of  the  cases  the  cattle 
for  feeding  are  purchased.  Some  of  these  "feeders"  are  ob- 
tained from  the  markets  at  Chicago,  Indianapolis,  and  Kan- 
sas City,  but  a  large  number  are  bought  from  the  neighbors 
of  the  man  who  finishes  them  for  the  market.  The  suc- 
cessful beef  farms  are  rather  large,  averaging  nearly  four 
hundred  acres,  but  many  farmers  with  less  land  who  do  not 
make  a  specialty  of  stock,  find  it  well  worth  while  to  fatten 
a  few  hogs  or  steers  as  a  byproduct.  As  the  production  of 
pork  is  largely  localized  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Missouri,  Illinois, 
and  Iowa,  it  is  not  surprising  that  in  1910  the  last  three 
named  were  the  only  states  in  the  Union  possessing  more 
hogs  than  Indiana.  The  great  centers  of  beef  raising,  how- 
ever, are  east  in  New  York,  and  west  in  Iowa,  and  south  in 
Texas;  and  so  Indiana  ranked  sixteenth  in  the  number  of 
cattle  on  the  farms. 

The  great  enemy  of  the  meat  producer  in  Indiana  is 
disease.  The  death  rate  among  hogs  after  weaning  was 
fifteen  per  cent  in  1912,  and  thirteen  and  a  half  per  cent  in 
1913,  while  that  among  cattle  was  considerably  under  two 
per  cent  each  year.  Nine-tenths  of  the  hogs  that  die  of 
disease  succumb  to  hog  cholera.  After  the  discovery  of 
the  proper  serum,  a  number  of  firms  placed  on  the  market 


AGRICULTURE 


47 


-  '    :  j >^.;.j  LA-.poRre  f-:.^_\^_._'_;j- .  •  ; .  ;-:^>x.;T;rv|:;-/;;.\;.| 

: .  Ct°w"oR".n>  IPORTER!   .  '   .  '  /'-— '--i   •  '.  *.'«  |.  '1-7— .— r--~"i-/N  'b'  B'U'-  E/.J  -,!•'•'•'•'•' : 

I-LX  K  ?j- .  •  .  -i-   • ./ •    T-  W.O.A,,  ••!.:  .;•  •.•••>;-:-.Vb^-:-:-  --°?o-K^-M 

4  S^^^lfl!!^^ 


. ......  .^r-    -.- 

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SUL.L..VAN.I   •..-.•.•..:•       '  .  '  I  r    '  .'.   I-     .    '   .  '  .1   2»^«v/ 

%**T..-.T   GREENE-!.'.    . .  i: r-u;  ._.../^  ••    ;  .  .  .jT"1?-0.    •/• 

(    •       •     •      •  -Bloomfirfd   o.      .        .  .          .-.i.....j-     v,™on.        /      .  .        .    / 

' •'"••  •'  •"    """"^-'-'- 


48  INDIANA 

impotent  vaccines,  which  failed  to  preserve  life,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  careless  veterinarians  administered  the 
best  serums  in  such  a  manner  as  to  work  more  harm  than 
good.  The  result  was  that  vaccination  for  cholera  fell  into 
disrepute.  It  is  with  difficulty  that  the  farmers  are  again 
being  persuaded  to  take  the  steps  absolutely  necessary  to 
eliminate  this  plague,  for  the  combination  of  natural  iner- 
tia with  the  fear  of  antagonizing  neighbors  and  a  dread 
of  the  great  expense  of  the  treatment  is  hard  to  overcome. 
The  laws  seem  to  be  sufficient,  for  they  require  the  testing 
at  Purdue  of  all  serums  offered  for  sale,  and  they  make  it 
unlawful  for  any  person  controlling  infected  hogs  to  allow 
them  to  run  on  the  highway,  on  lots  or  pastures  belonging 
to  another  man  or  adjoining  the  pastures  of  another  man, 
or  in  places  where  they  have  access  to  running  water  that 
may  flow  thru  other  pastures.  As  a  result  of  the  persistent 
propaganda  of  Purdue  and  the  county  agents,  it  is  probable 
that  in  a  few  years  more  the  farmers  will  insist  upon  pro- 
tection from  the  carelessness  of  their  neighbors,  will  extend 
the  use  of  serum,  and  so  will  largely  curtail  these  losses 
from  disease. 

Altho  Indiana  is  not  one  of  the  great  dairy  states  it 
does  produce  a  large  amount  of  milk  and  cream  and  butter. 
The  total  value  of  these  products  in  1913  was  thirty-five 
million  dollars,  a  sum  four  and  a  half  million  dollars  less 
than  the  price  of  the  cattle  and  frogs  sold  for  meat.  As 
practically  all  the  feed  needed  by  the  cattle  is  raised  within 
the  commonwealth,  and  as  transportation  facilities  are  ex- 
cellent, and  as  the  climate  nowhere  within  the  state  is  too 
severe,  it  is  probable  that  the  dairy  business  will  develop 
continuously  as  population  grows,  particularly  in  the  por- 
tions of  the  state  poorly  adapted  for  the  production  of  cer- 
eals. In  1913  there  were  milked  on  the  average  nearly  half 
a  million  cows,  that  gave  over  two  hundred  million  gallons  of 
milk.  A  great  problem  in  the  dairy  industry  is  the  identi- 
fication of  the  good  animals,  for  a  study  made  by  the  Purdue 
experts  a  few  years  ago  resulted  in  the  conclusion  that  of  all 
the  dairy  cows  in  the  state  one-third  were  profitable,  one- 
third  just  about  paid  their  board,  and  about  one-third  were 
kept  at  a  dead  loss  to  the  owner.  The  solution  of  this  prob- 
lem has  probably  been  discovered  in  the  cow  testing  associa- 
tion, a  Danish  innovation.  There  are  now  several  of  these 
cooperative  enterprises  in  the  state,  and  the  leaders  in  ag- 


AGRICULTURE  49 

ricultural  progress  are  advocating  their  multiplication.  A 
group  of  twenty-five  to  thirty  farmers  engage  a  man  to 
visit  each  farm  monthly  to  test  the  milk  of  each  animal. 
From  the  results  of  these  analyses  it  can  be  determined  how 
much  the  output  of  each  cow  commands  at  the  creamery; 
and  a  comparison  of  this  figure  with  the  cost  of  feeding  and 
caring  for  her  shows  her  status  as  a  parasite  or  as  a  money- 
maker. Thus,  by  a  system  of  accurate  accounting  a  dairy- 
man should  be  able  to  eliminate  one  large  element  of  loss. 
In  addition  to  advocating  the  formation  of  these  cow  testing 
associations,  the  Dairy  and  Extension  Departments  of  Pur- 
due University  are  seeking,  with  the  aid  of  subscriptions 
from  some  large  manufacturers  of  equipment,  to  improve 
the  dairy  business  by  encouraging  the  proper  handling  of 
cream,  the  best  methods  of  caring  for  cows,  the  endeavor 
to  cheapen  shipping,  and  the  advertising  of  Indiana  butter. 

Another  animal  source  of  food  .is  poultry.  In  1909  In- 
diana with  a  production  of  nearly  seventy-seven  million  doz- 
en eggs,  stood  fifth  among  the  states.  In  1913  the  average 
number  of  laying  hens  was  eight  hundred  thirty-four  thou- 
sand dozen  and  there  were  over  seven  million  fowls  sold, 
mostly  for  food.  The  poultry  produced  in  1913  over  four- 
teen million  dollars  worth  of  eggs  and  nearly  four  million 
dollars  worth  of  meat.  Indiana  sheep  sold  for  meat  brought 
but  two  and  a  third  million  dollars,  and  the  wool  but  six 
hundred  thousand. 

Many  farmers  derive  some  income  from  horse  breed- 
ing, for  they  can  use  the  mares  for  work  about  the  farm, 
and  at  the  same  time  by  rearing  two  or  three  colts  a  year 
they  may  realize  considerable  profit.  The  quality  of  the 
animals  has  been  somewhat  improved  by  numerous  local 
horse  shows,  that  stimulate  pride  and  emphasize  fine  points. 
To  aid  in  raising  the  quality  of  the  horses  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1913  passed  a  law  requiring  the  enrollment  of  all 
stallions  and  jacks  by  a  board  of  three  men  representing 
the  Indiana  Horse  Breeders'  Association,  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture,  and  the  staff  in  Animal  Husbandry  of  Purdue 
University.  The  aim  of  this  enrollment  is  the  prevention 
of  breeding  to  stallions  with  transmissible  unsoundnesses, 
and  the  purification  of  the  business,  for  advertisements  are 
now  required  to  state  whether  the  stallion  is  pure,  cross, 
grade,  or  scrub,  and  the  certificate  of  enrollment  is  to  be 
posted  at  the  home  stable  and  wherever  service  is  offered. 


50  INDIANA 

Up  to  the  first  of  November,  1914,  the  results  of  this  enroll- 
ment showed  that  out  of  4,743  stallions,  2,537  were  pure 
bred,  1,153  grade,  and  1,049  scrub.  The  pure  percherons, 
numbering  in  all  1,182,  were  most  popular  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  state ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  were  more  grades 
in  the  southern  half.  The  great  bulk  of  the  eleven  hundred 
jacks  were  southwest  of  a  line  drawn  from  Lafayette  to 
Vevay.  The  superiority  of  the  pure  bred  horse  has  been 
demonstrated  by  Professor  Thompson  of  Purdue,  who  has 
shown  the  selling  value  of  this  animal  to  be  $47.50  greater 
than  that  of  the  grade  at  one  year  and  to  be  $100  greater  at 
four  years.  The  total  value  of  the  horses  sold  in  1913  was 
eleven  and  a  half  million  dollars,  and  that  of  the  mules  was 
about  three  million.  Of  course  not  all  these  sales  were  by 
the  breeders,  yet  the  figures  give  some  idea  of  the  size  of 
the  business. 

Means  of  Encouraging  Agriculture. 

Because  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  voters  in  Indiana 
are  farmers,  one  would  expect  the  General  Assembly  to  do  a 
great  deal  for  agriculture,  and  a  study  of  the  situation  dis- 
closes some  excellent  legislation.  In  the  first  place,  the 
drainage  laws  have  been  so  framed  as  to  give  the  farmer 
every  fair  opportunity  to  remove  surplus  water.  In  the 
second  place,  the  law  encourages  the  construction  of  good 
roads  by  making  their  financing  as  easy  as  possible.  Third, 
the  owners  of  land  are  required  to  cut  weeds  if  the  view  of 
a  highway  passing  thru  or  beside  their  fields  is  obstructed  by 
the  growths,  and  they  are  to  receive  credit  for  such  work  on 
their  road  taxes.  Likewise,  owners  of  contiguous  property 
are  allowed  to  form  associations  for  cooperation  in  ridding 
their  orchards  of  the  scales  and  other  enemies  of  good  fruit. 
Fourth,  the  state  annually  gives  money  to  the  State  Corn 
Growers'  Association,  the  State  Livestock  Breeders'  As- 
sociation, the  State  Dairymen's  Association,  and  to  other 
societies  which  promote  various  agricultural  interests. 
Fifth,  there  is  a  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  which  is  merely 
a  commission  to  organize  the  annual  State  Fair.  The  law 
allows,  also,  the  formation  of  county  societies  for  the  im- 
provement of  agriculture  and  permits  the  counties  to  lend 
money  to  such  organizations.  The  result  of  these  laws  is 
a  large  number  of  fairs,  fifty-two  being  scheduled  in  1915. 
The  exact  value  of  such  fairs  can  never  be  estimated.  Un~ 


AGRICULTURE  51 

doubtedly  in  the  past  they  have  been  potent  educational  in- 
stitutions, and  perhaps  they  are  still  useful  to  set  standards 
for  products  and  to  advertise  new  methods,  while  they  cer- 
tainly promote  enjoyable  sociability.  Sixth,  in  1913,  it  was 
made  possible  for  not  less  than  twenty-five  persons  to  form 
a  "cooperative"  company,  corporation,  or  association,  and  to 
distribute  the  profits  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  goods 
bought  from  the  society,  to  the  commodities  sold  to  it,  or  to 
service  rendered  to  it.  This  law  enables  farmers  to  cooper- 
ate in  the  disposal  of  products  or  in  the  purchase  of  seeds, 
implements,  and  other  supplies.  Buying  and  selling  thru 
such  agencies  are  conducted  with  marked  success  in  many 
states,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Indiana  farmers  will 
speedily  learn  to  unite  as  do  those  of  Oregon,  California, 
and  Nova  Scotia.  Finally,  the  Department  of  Geology  has 
been  conducting  soil  surveys  of  the  important  agricultural 
counties  in  order  to  assist  the  farmers  in  scientifically  un- 
dertaking the  solution  of  their  problems  of  fertilization  and 
of  soil  modification. 

All  these  and  many  other  attempts  to  aid  agriculture, 
fade  into  insignificance  beside  one  great  institution,  Purdue. 
Founded  on  the  Morrill  Grant  of  1862,  and  frequently  laugh- 
ed at  in  the  days  when  applied  science  was  considered  sac- 
rilege, this  combination  of  school  and  experiment  station 
has  attained  a  commanding  position  in  Indiana  farming. 
The  college  which  opened  its  doors  in  March,  1874,  under 
the  presidency  of  A.  C.  Shortridge,  obtained  in  1900  the  ser- 
vices of  W.  E.  Stone  and  under  his  guidance  the  enrollment 
has  grown  to  over  twenty-five  hundred.  In  March,  1915, 
there  were  five  hundred  seventy-seven  undergraduate  stu- 
dents of  agriculture.  Altho  some  of  these  men  devote  them- 
selves to  teaching  and  research,  a  large  per  cent  become 
farmers,  and  have  a  chance  to  demonstrate  the  cash  value 
of  their  training,  and  to  set  high  standards  for  their  neigh- 
bors. Thus,  the  educational  power  of  the  University  can- 
not be  estimated  in  terms  of  the  students  brought  to  its 
classes.  This  is  particularly  true  since  the  foundation  in 
1912  of  the  summer  school  for  teachers  of  agriculture,  man- 
ual training,  and  domestic  science,  for  in  six  weeks  these 
instructors  can  absorb  much  that  will  be  helpful  to  the  pu- 
pils in  the  common  schools.  The  short  courses  for  farmers 
given  at  the  University  have  proved  so  valuable  that  it  has 
been  found  advisable  to  carry  them  beyond  the  walls  to  the 


52  INDIANA 

farmers.  In  1913  the  short  course  in  agriculture,  consist- 
ing of  twenty  lectures  and  twenty-five  laboratory  or  dem- 
onstration periods,  was  given  in  twenty  communities,  with 
an  average  attendance  of  seven  hundred;  and  various  short 
courses  in  home  economics  were  offered  in  forty-two  centers. 

In  addition  to  these  short  courses,  Purdue  approaches 
the  farmer  thru  club  work,  actively  assisting  societies  for 
the  study  of  home  economics,  and  encouraging  agricultural 
organizations  of  boys  and  girls.  In  1915  there  were  eighty 
of  the  women's  clubs  pursuing  a  regular  course  outlined  at 
Purdue.  Moreover,  with  the  cooperation  of  the  railways, 
special  cars  containing  exhibits  of  interest  to  the  farmers 
are  sent  about  the  state  in  charge  of  the  University  experts, 
who  answer  questions,  explain  specimens,  and  deliver  for- 
mal lectures.  Finally,  the  University  annually  furnishes 
speakers  for  a  large  number  of  county  institutes  which  are 
valuable  in  presenting  to  the  farmers  the  latest  conclusions 
of  the  scientists,  and  of  their  progressive  neighbors. 

By  no  means  all  of  the  activities  of  Purdue  have  been 
mentioned  in  this  sketch,  but  enough  has  been  pointed  out 
to  demonstrate  that  in  coming  in  contact  with  nearly  half  a 
million  people  every  year,  the  University  exerts  a  powerful 
influence.  That  the  service  is  appreciated  is  proven  by  the 
fact  that  men  are  willing  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  taking 
short  courses,  and  that  the  General  Assembly  stands  ready 
to  vote  money  to  support  the  institution. 

Indirectly  Purdue  plays  a  large  part  in  one  of  the  latest 
and  most  active  means  of  helping  the  farmer  to  improve  his 
work.  Under  the  terms  of  the  Vocational  Education  Law 
of  1913,  if  twenty  or  more  residents  of  a  county  who  are 
actively  interested  in  agriculture  file  a  petition  with  the 
county  board  of  education  for  the  appointment  of  a  County 
Agricultural  Agent,  and  accompany  the  petition  with  a  de- 
posit of  five  hundred  dollars,  the  county  board  of  education 
in  turn  petitions  the  county  council  which  is  required  to  set 
aside  fifteen  hundred  dollars  for  the  salary  and  expenses  of 
the  agent.  Thereupon  the  Board  of  Education  applies  to 
Purdue  University  which  in  turn  appoints  the  agent.  The 
State  pays  half  the  agent's  salary,  but  its  contribution  is 
limited  to  one  thousand  dollars.  Within  the  first  year  of 
the  operation  of  this  law  twenty-seven  counties  had  ob- 
tained agents,  and  one  township  in  Hamilton  County  had 
achieved  what  is  probably  a  unique  arrangement  in  a  com- 


AGRICULTURE  53 

bination  of  the  school  trustee,  the  local  Better  Farming 
Association,  The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
and  Purdue  University  in  the  employment  of  a  Township 
Agent.  In  1915  there  were  thirty  other  county  agents? 

Since  the  work  of  these  agents  is  not  rigidly  defined  in 
the  law,  they  are  thrown  largely  upon  their  own  initiative. 
As  their  appointment  is  received  from  Purdue  University 
they  are  chosen  on  grounds  of  fitness  for  the  task,  which 
includes  a  wide  technical  knowledge  of  the  methods  and 
problems  of  the  particular  kinds  of  farming  they  are  likely 
to  encounter,  and  a  huge  fund  of  ingenuity,  common  sense, 
and  tact.  At  meetings  with  their  state  leaders,  Professor 
G.  I.  Christie  and  T.  A.  Coleman,  they  exchange  views  and 
information,  and  standardize  their  work.  In  a  measure 
they  achieve  their  results  thru  the  children,  forming  clubs 
of  boys  and  girls  who  become  enthusiasts  in  competition 
for  prizes,  or  in  the  study  of  agricultural  methods ;  at  times 
also  they  talk  in  the  schools  or  instruct  the  teachers  of  ag- 
riculture. Thru  the  children  the  agent  is  frequently  brought 
in  contact  with  parents  who  otherwise  could  not  be  reached. 
Some  agents  have  won  their  people  by  notable  exploits. 
One,  for  example,  achieved  fame  for  stopping  an  invasion 
of  cinch  bug,  and  another  earned  gratitude  and  respect  by 
organizing  a  corn  testing  week,  when  the  school  children 
tested  the  fertility  of  the  individual  ears  held  for  seed  by 
the  farmers.  The  children  gained  the  experience  and  the 
farmers  were  saved  from  the  risk  of  planting  infertile 
grains. 

The  agent  tries  to  work  thru  the  agencies  for  better- 
ment that  he  finds  in  existence  and  to  develop  their  greatest 
usefulness.  He  cooperates  with  the  better  farming  associa- 
tions, the  farmers'  institutes,  the  Gleaners,  the  Granges, 
the  alfalfa  clubs,  and  the  schools.  He  seeks  to  make  him- 
self available  by  keeping  at  convenient  times  a  regular  of- 
fice hour  in  the  county  seat  when  he  is  ready  to  consult  and 
to  offer  advice.  He  organizes  campaigns  to  improve  spe- 
cific conditions ;  to  fight  hog  cholera,  to  improve  the  quality 
of  seed  corn,  to  better  the  roads,  to  protect  the  orchards  by 
spraying,  or  to  extirpate  certain  weeds.  One  held  a  "Min- 
ers' garden  party"  to  encourage  vegetable  raising  among 
the  Sullivan  County  coal  miners,  another  operates  a  very 
poor  farm  to  show  what  skilled  management  can  accom- 
plish, while  a  third  gave  a  short  course  in  agriculture.  In 


54  INDIANA 

brief,  the  agent  tries  to  render  efficient  service  to  all  who 
come  for  advice,  and  to  inspire  by  every  possible  means  the 
ambition  of  his  clientele  for  better  farming.  As  yet  it  is 
too  early  to  estimate  this  innovation,  but  enough  has  already 
been  accomplished  in  many  counties  to  more  than  justify 
the  expenditure.  The  principle  is  certainly  sound;  the  em- 
ployment by  the  community  of  an  expert  who  shall  help  the 
poor  farmer  to  make  up  for  his  lack  of  technical  knowledge, 
is  conducive  to  efficiency  and  at  the  same  time  democratic. 

Summary. 

The  climate  and  soil  of  Indiana,  especially  north  of  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  are  a  splendid 
basis  for  a  great  development  of  agriculture.  Altho  there 
is  a  steady  increase  in  farm  tenancy  and  in  the  number  of 
mortgaged  farms,  the  condition  of  the  farmers  in  Indiana 
seems  to  be  on  the  whole  better  than  in  many  sections  of 
the  United  States.  This  may  be  partly  due  to  the  predom- 
inance of  native  American  stock  in  the  agricultural  popula- 
tion. The  chief  crops  in  Indiana  are  the  cereals;  foremost 
among  these  are  corn  which  is  of  very  good  quality,  oats, 
and  wheat  which  makes  a  high  grade  flour.  There  is  a  large 
variety  of  other  important  crops,  some  of  which  are  unique. 
Since  a  large  part  of  the  corn,  oats,  and  grass  is  fed  to  stock, 
Indiana  has  won  a  prominent  place  in  the  production  of  first 
class  pork  and  finished  beef.  The  dairy  cows,  horses,  and 
poultry  also  are  abundant  sources  of  wealth.  The  state 
has  devoted  a  great  deal  of  energy  to  improving  farming, 
and  it  is  accomplishing  much  thru  the  activities  of  Purdue, 
and  thru  the  new  institution  of  the  county  agent.  All  in 
all  Indiana  is  a  great  agricultural  commonwealth  with  the 
prospect  of  rapid  progress  as  science  advances. 


AGRICULTURE 
Products  of  Farms  in  Indiana  1913. 


55 


PRODUCT 

AMOUNT 

ACREAGE 

VALUE 

Wheat 

29,728,847  bu. 

1,796,637 

Corn 

161,276,315  bu. 

4,488,443 

Oats 

41,918,820  bu. 

1,754,776 

Rye 

2,726  563  bu. 

207,680 

Barley                           _  _     

197,788  bu. 

10,372 

Buckwheat                   

77,567  bu. 

5,751 

Watermelons  and  Cantaloupes 

8,057 

$       506,244 

Berries 

232,459  bu 

4,514 

Apples  Peaches  Pears,  &  Plums 

897,635  bu. 

Potatoes  (produced  for  market) 

3,137,228  bu. 

42,912 

Onions  (produced  for  market) 

1  145,512  bu. 

4,285 

Tobacco 

10,049,280  Ib. 

10,818 

Tomatoes 

125,224  tons 

27,209 

Timothy  Hay 

1,119,016  tons 

1,213,711 

Prairie,  Wild,  and  Millet  Hay 

90,143  tons 

91,730 

Clover  Meadow  Hay 

877,984  tons 

832,156 

Clover  Seed 

491,015  bu. 

380,251 

Alfalfa 

69,937  tons 

36,624 

Cowpeas  and  Soybeans 

79,317  tons 

81,682 

Milk                             _     _ 

215,991,839  gal. 

28,034,781 

Butter        __          . 

40,954,419  Ib. 

9,097,017 

Hogs  (sold)     

1,323,610 

18,435,851 

Sheep  (sold)  

478,266 

2,314,677 

Cattle  (sold)  

477,123 

21,343,476 

Cows  Milked  (average)  

479,149 

21,849,815 

Wool  Clip 

2  879  014  Ib. 

605,692 

Laying  Hens  (average)       

834,444  doz. 

4,721,777 

Poultry  (sold) 

646,508  doz. 

3,795,057 

Hens'  Eggs  (produced) 

72,928  249  doz. 

14,403,477 

Horses  and  Colts  (sold)  ^ 

92,598 

11,481,455 

Mules  (sold)  

25,482 

3,166,732 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Manufactures 


Some  years  ago  the  South  Chicago  plant  of  the  Illinois 
Steel  Company  was  so  hemmed  in  by  the  works  of  other 
concerns  that  the  only  possibility  for  expansion  lay  in  cre- 
ating new  land  by  filling  in  the  lake.  Therefore  the  com- 
pany poured  its  slag  into  the  water.  After  a  while,  when 
it  had  made  enough  dry  ground  to  warrant  construction, 
the  corporation  applied  for  a  building  permit.  Mayor 
Dunne,  however,  not  only  refused  to  sanction  the  plans  but 
even  commenced  suit  to  recover  the  land  for  the  city  of 
Chicago,  asserting  that  the  alteration  of  the  waterfront 
without  permission  was  illegal.  This  situation  was  one  of 
the  most  potent  reasons  for  founding  what  is  in  many  ways, 
the  most  wonderful  of  American  municipalities. 

Gary. 

When  the  Illinois  Steel  Company  chose  the  site  for  its 
new  plant,  Gary  consisted  mostly  of  sand  dunes  and  railroad 
tracks,  for  this  strip  of  lake  shore  lay  on  the  route  of  the 
trunk  lines  between  Chicago  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  In 
order  to  make  room  for  the  plant  three  of  these  roads  had 
to  be  moved,  and  incidentally  their  tracks  were  elevated  for 
miles  in  order  that  the  citizens  of  the  future  metropolis 
might  go  about  in  safety.  A  subsidiary  corporation,  the 
Gary  Land  Company,  which  was  responsible  for  planning 
the  town  and  for  disposing  of  the  lots,  made  the  streets 
broad,  and  sought  to  insure  the  permanency  of  the  pave- 
ments by  the  construction  of  alleys  with  conduits  to  carry 
such  utilities  as  water,  sewers,  gas,  electricity,  and  tele- 
phone wires.  Both  comeliness  and  utility  were  emphasized. 
Lots  were  made  large  enough  that  the  houses  might  be  set 
back  thirty-five  feet  from  the  walks,  parks  were  planned, 
and  a  considerable  number  of  dwellings  were  erected  for  the 
employees  of  the  corporation.  While  paternalism  was  con- 


MANUFACTURES  57 

sistently  avoided,  an  attempt  was  made  to  give  the  "Hunk- 
ies"  "white  men's  houses  to  live  in." 

The  city  grew  marvelously.  Rich  black  loam  was 
brought  from  the  distant  prairies  and  spread  over  the  sand 
to  form  a  basis  for  lawns  and  flower  beds.  Frequently  a 
family  would  move  into  a  house  within  twenty-four  hours 
of  the  erection  of  its  frame.  One  church,  begun  after 
lunch,  was  used  for  a  congregational  supper  that  evening, 
and  for  a  preaching  service  the  next  morning.  In  spite  of 
the  wonderful  activity  of  the  Gary  Land  Company  in  pro- 
viding housing,  there  was  for  a  time  desperate  overcrowd- 
ing among  the  unskilled  workers.  For  example,  in  1909, 
three  years  after  the  birth  of  the  city,  an  investigator  found 
four  hundred  twenty-eight  persons  inhabiting  one  hundred 
forty-two  rooms  in  thirty-eight  houses.  Of  course  this 
rapid  growth  of  population  greatly  increased  the  value  of 
the  land.  Since  the  Gary  Land  Company  recognized  the 
social  dangers  from  speculation  it  consummated  sales  only 
after  the  prospective  purchaser  offered  satisfactory  assur- 
ance that  he  intended  permanently  to  occupy  and  to  use  his 
ground.  So  it  happened  that  building  lots  were  offered  on 
reasonable  terms. 

Unparalleled  as  was  the  achievement  of  building  this 
city,  it  was  but  an  incidental  part  of  the  erection  of  the  enor- 
mous steel  plant.  An  artificial  harbor  has  been  created 
with  almost  a  mile  of  twenty-two  foot  channel  nearly  a  hun- 
dred yards  wide,  and  a  turning  basin  two  hundred  fifty 
yards  in  diameter.  Since  the  investment  in  one  of  the  lake 
steamers  is  so  precarious  that  it  is  necessary  to  have  the 
vessel  in  motion  every  possible  minute  during  the  season 
of  navigation,  the  speed  of  taking  on  and  of  discharging 
cargo  is  of  tremendous  importance.  So  the  ore  is  unloaded 
by  ten  ton  grab-buckets.  This  ore,  unless  it  is  stored  for 
winter  use,  is  conveyed  rapidly  to  the  blast  furnaces,  and  is 
carried  on  tracks  that  never  turn  at  right  angles  thru  all 
the  processes  of  manufacture  to  the  delivery  spur  tracks, 
with  a  minimum  of  reheatings.  In  this  plant  nothing  is 
experimental,  every  device  has  previously  proven  its  econ- 
omy. Every  byproduct  is  utilized.  The  company  which  is 
ruthless  in  its  requirements  of  its  employees,  has  neverthe- 
less developed  a  systematic  plan  of  accident  prevention  that 
has  succeeded  in  largely  reducing  the  number  of  mishaps. 

The  Illinois  Steel  Company  has  not  remained  the  only 


58  INDIANA 

industry  in  the  city,  for  the  American  Bridge  Company,  the 
American  Steel  Company,  the  National  Tube  Company,  the 
American  Locomotive  Company,  and  the  American  Car  and 
Foundry  Company  are  among  a  number  of  very  large  con- 
cerns that  have  located  plants  at  Gary.  Even  now  the  city 
has  a  few  factory  sites  that  are  free  to  persons  who  can 
give  proper  guarantee  of  success.  The  European  war 
has  been  the  occasion  of  a  great  development  of  the  prepar- 
ation of  munitions  at  several  points  close  to  Gary. 

The  reasons  for  the  deliberate  choice  of  Gary  for  a 
manufacturing  center  are  not  far  to  seek.  In  the  first  place, 
land  was  to  be  had  for  a  song,  because  the  sand  was  well- 
nigh  useless  for  agricultural  purposes.  Second,  since  the 
area  was  traversed  by  all  the  large  railways  of  what  is 
known  as  the  trunk  line  class,  the  two  and  four  track  lines 
between  Chicago  and  the  eastern  seaboard  at  Boston,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  competition  in  respect 
to  service  was  assured.  Moreover,  the  place  is  convenient 
to  Chicago  with  its  wonderful  transportation  facilities. 
Third,  Gary  is  the  strategic  meeting  point  of  the  raw  mater- 
ials that  are  necessary  for  the  manufacture  of  steel.  Coke 
can  be  secured  from  Pennsylvania,  coal  is  obtained  from  In- 
diana and  Illinois,  lime  is  quarried  in  Indiana,  and  iron  ore 
can  be  brought  by  swift  steamers  from  the  Minnesota  mines 
on  Lake  Superior.  Finally,  Gary  is  situated  close  to  the 
center  of  population,  and  is  therefore  at  the  heart  of  the 
market  for  products  of  all  kinds,  including  steel. 

Gary  is  not  quite  unique  in  its  industrial  advantages. 
There  is  no  reason  why  Whiting,  Hammond,  East  Chicago, 
and  the  whole  lake  front  from  the  Illinois  line  to  Michigan 
City  should  not  be  eventually  one  great  manufacturing  cen- 
ter. 

Other  Northern  Cities. 

While  the  lake  front  is  the  most  promising  industrial 
region  in  Indiana,  there  are  a  number  of  other  cities  in  the 
northern  half  of  the  state  that  are  already  prosperous  or 
rapidly  developing  manufacturing  centers.  Among  these 
may  be  mentioned  Anderson,  Elkhart,  Elwood,  Fort  Wayne, 
Huntington,  Kokomo,  Lafayette,  Laporte,  Logansport,  Mar- 
ion, Mishawaka,  Muncie,  Peru,  and  South  Bend.  Some  of 
these  municipalities  owe  their  start  as  factory  towns  to  the 
supply  of  natural  gas  that  for  over  a  decade  made  fuel  very 


MANUFACTURES  59 

cheap,  but  all  share  to  a  considerable  extent  the  same  ad- 
vantages of  the  central  location  of  Indiana  and  her  network 
of  railways.  And  they  are  close  enough  to  the  mines  to  en- 
joy cheap  fuel. 

The  Southern  Cities. 

South  of  the  line  from  Richmond  to  Terre  Haute  there 
is  only  one  city,  Evansville,  that  can  claim  importance  as  a 
manufacturing  center,  altho  Vincennes,  New  Albany, 
and  Jeff ersonville,  with  their  river  locations  are  not  slow  in 
asserting  their  advantages.  There  are,  of  course,  sufficient 
reasons  for  the  industrial  backwardness  of  the  southern  half 
of  the  state.  In  the  first  place,  the  section  is  away  from 
the  main  highways  of  trade,  and  the  freight  service  is 
much  less  efficient  than  is  necessary  for  manufacturing  pros- 
perity. Second,  altho  coal  is  cheap,  the  hardwood  forests, 
iron  ores,  and  rich  farms  are  so  remote  that  raw  materials 
are  necessarily  more  expensive  than  they  are  farther  north. 
However,  the  southern  cities  have  taken  advantage  of  their 
own  peculiar  opportunities.  Bedford,  for  instance,  has  a 
number  of  prosperous  stone  mills  which  owe  their  existence 
to  the  wonderful  limestone  quarries;  and  Jeff  ersonville  has 
a  "shipyard"  that  claims  to  have  turned  out  more  vessels 
than  any  similar  establishment  in  the  world.  Third,  the 
population  of  the  southern  counties  seems  less  energetic 
than  that  of  those  farther  north.  Of  course  in  this  decade 
with  modern  methods  of  finding  hands,  labor  can  be  had 
wherever  it  can  be  used  profitably.  So  the  difference  in  the 
character  of  the  population  is  not  as  important  in  its  influ- 
ence upon  the  common  workingmen  as  in  the  relative  lack 
of  persons  with  organizing  ability.  Perhaps  this  difference 
in  "push"  can  best  be  illustrated  by  reference  to  the  activi- 
ties of  chambers  of  commerce,  which  are  much  more  nu- 
merous and  enterprising  in  northern  Indiana.  This  upper 
half  of  the  commonwealth  seems  to  have  been  settled  by  a 
stock  drawn  from  the  most  progressive  sections  of  the  early 
United  States.  This  strain  has  received  large  reinforce- 
ments, the  men  who  established  factories  soon  after  the 
discovery  of  gas  in  1886,  men  who  had  the  judgment  and 
courage  to  move  into  the  region  of  cheap  power.  Possibly  a 
part  of  the  human  inertia  in  southern  Indiana  is  due  to  the 
enervating  effects  of  the  warmth  and  the  moisture  of  the 
climate.  Whatever  the  reasons,  it  is  certain  that  indus- 


60  INDIANA 

tries  are  far  more  advanced  in  the  northern  than  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  state,  and  that  the  immediate  prospect 
for  further  growth  lies  in  the  north. 

The  Middle  Line. 

On  a  line  drawn  roughly  across  the  center  of  the  com- 
monwealth lie  Richmond,  Indianapolis,  and  Terre  Haute, 
three  important  manufacturing  cities,  two  of  which  deserve 
special  mention.  In  some  respects  Terre  Haute  seems  to 
have  the  greatest  advantages,  for,  aided  by  the  transporta- 
tion facilities  afforded  by  the  Wabash  River,  it  had  an  early 
start.  Moreover,  Vigo  County  is  the  largest  coal  producing 
area  in  the  state  and  furnishes  excellent  clay  and  shale  for 
the  making  of  tile  and  fire  brick.  Fourteen  railroads  as- 
sure good  freight  service.  Why  this  city,  "the  Pittsburgh 
of  the  West,"  has  not  surpassed  Fort  Wayne,  South  Bend, 
and  Evansville  in  the  value  of  its  manufactured  products  is 
difficult  to  discover.  Perhaps  the  safest  explanation  is  the 
character  of  the  municipal  government  which  has  been  no- 
toriously corrupt  for  a  great  many  years. 

Not  quite  so  well  situated  in  the  midst  of  natural  re- 
sources as  Terre  Haute,  but  vastly  more  important  in  her 
industrial  development,  is  Indianapolis.  Hewn  out  of  the 
wonderful  hardwood  forests,  the  Capital  early  became  an 
important  lumber  center,  but  as  the  trees  were  driven  back 
before  the  farms,  the  saw-mills  found  relatively  less  and  less 
to  do.  The  first  extensive  development  of  Indianpolis  as  a 
general  manufacturing  center  seems  to  have  resulted  from 
the  fact  that  many  railroads  entered  the  city,  or  passed 
thru  it.  So  the  metropolis  naturally  attracted  jobbers 
and  factories  until  today  its  wholesalers  market  their  goods 
right  up  under  the  skyscrapers  of  Louisville  and  Cleveland. 
And  a  large  part  of  their  wares  are  Indianapolis  products. 
In  the  eighties,  manufacturing  in  the  Capital  received  a  new 
impetus  when  natural  gas  became  available,  and  finally,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  the  interurban  pow- 
erfully supplemented  the  other  forces  in  the  upbuilding  of 
the  metropolis.  At  the  present  time  the  value  of  the  manu- 
factured products  of  Indianapolis  exceeds  that  of  any  one 
of  seventeen  states,  and  she  stands  nineteenth  among  the 
cities  of  the  nation  for  the  importance  of  her  industry. 

What  is  responsible  for  the  great  industrial  develop- 
ment of  Indianapolis?  First  is  the  fact  that  there  is  rail- 


MANUFACTURES  61 

road  competition  in  nearly  every  direction,  which  means 
that  shipments  "move,"  and  altho  the  freight  rates  have 
in  the  past  militated  somewhat  against  the  Capital  City; 
they  now  seem  fairly  adjusted.  In  the  second  place,  fuel  of 
high  steaming  qualities  is  very  cheap,  since  competing  rail- 
roads bring  coal  from  competing  mining  districts.  Third, 
Indianapolis  is  but  forty-five  miles  from  Bloomington,  the 
center  of  population  of  the  United  States,  and  is  therefore 
close  to  the  heart  of  the  national  market.  Fourth,  the  city 
is  well  situated  to  secure  a  cheap  supply  of  raw  materials, 
for  the  rich  farming  land  of  the  surrounding  counties  fur- 
nishes fat  pork  and  beef  as  well  as  grain  in  abundance,  and 
other  supplies  can  readily  be  obtained  from  mines,  quarries, 
farms,  and  forests  of  Indiana  and  adjacent  states.  Finally, 
Indianapolis  has  been  exceptionally  free  from  serious  labor 
disturbances.  This  comparative  industrial  peace  combined 
with  the  large  per  cent  of  highly  efficient  native  Americans 
in  the  population  has  given  the  city  a  satisfactory  labor 
force. 

Without  the  corporate  limits,  but  upon  a  branch  of  the 
Belt  Line,  a  new  industrial  suburb,  Mars  Hill,  offers  free 
sites  to  manufacturing  plants  which  promise  to  be  highly 
successful.  With  low  taxes,  excellent  water,  and  all  the 
advantages  of  the  Capital,  it  is  likely  that  this  suburb  will 
soon  develop  into  an  important  industrial  center.  Only 
time  can  tell,  but  it  seems  probable  that  Indianapolis  will 
long  continue  to  maintain  her  present  position  as  "  the 
greatest  Inland  City." 

The  State  as  a  Whole. 

Altho  Indiana  is  not  usually  classed  among  the  in- 
dustrial states,  the  factories  of  the  commonwealth  in  1909 
employed  an  average  of  210,000  persons.  Whereas  the  total 
worth  of  all  the  farm  products  in  1909  was  $328,000,000, 
the  value  of  the  products  of  the  factories  was  $579,000,000, 
of  which  the  sum  of  $244,000,000  is  attributable  to  the 
manufacturing  process.  Moreover,  the  1910  Census  of  oc- 
cupations showed  344,454  persons  in  the  state  engaged  in 
Agriculture,  Forestry,  and  Animal  Husbandry,  and  310,402 
employed  in  Manufacturing  and  Mechanical  pursuits.  Still 
another  evidence  of  the  importance  of  Indiana's  industrial 
interests  is  the  fact  that  from  1904  to  1909  the  increase  in 
the  value  of  factory  products  and  in  the  value  added  in 


62 


INDIANA 


manufacture  was  at  a  rate  considerably  more  rapid  than  for 
the  country  as  a  whole.  Indeed,  since  1849  Indiana  has 
risen  from  fourteenth  to  ninth  place  among  the  states  as  a 
seat  of  manufacturing. 

Half  a  century  ago  the  large  industries  of  the  common- 
wealth were  based  almost  entirely  upon  her  agriculture  and 
her  forests.  Of  the  total  product  of  the  factories  in  1860, 
which  was  worth  about  $43,000,000,  flour  and  meal  amounted 
to  $17,000,000,  sawed  lumber  to  $4,271,000,  provisions  to 
$3,350,000,  and  liquors  to  nearly  $2,500,000.  Thus  the  four 
leading  industries  used  raw  materials  native  to  Indiana,  and 
produced  over  five-eighths  of  the  total  output.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  1909  the  ten  leading  industries  were  responsible  for 
but  a  trifle  over  half  of  the  product,  and  for  less  than  half 
of  the  value  added  in  manufacture.  Hence  the  industrial 
field  has  broadened  and  at  the  same  time  dependence  upon 
the  natural  resources  of  the  state  has  waned.  The  follow- 
ing table  shows  the  ten  leading  industries  in  Indiana  in  1909, 
their  relative  importance,  and  their  places  in  the  manufac- 
turing of  the  nation. 

Ten  Leading  Manufacturing  Industries  of  Indiana  in  1909. 


INDUSTRY 

Rank  Among 
Manufacturing 
Industries 

Per  cent  of 
Wage  Earners 
in  Manufac- 
tures of 

Per  cent  of 
Value  of 
Manufactured 
Products  of 

I    Per  cent  of 

Value  added  by 
Manufacture  in 

Indiana 

U.  S. 

Indiana 

U.  S. 

Indiana 

U.  S. 

Indiana 

U.  S. 

Slaughtering  and  Meat  Packing 
Flour  and  Gristmill  Products.  _ 
Foundry  and  Machine  Shop 
Products                           

1 

2 
3 

4 
5 

6 

7 

8 
9 

10 

1 
5 

2 

4 
26 

22 
3 

31 
23 

12 

2.4 
1.2 

8.5 

6.6 
0.2 

3.6 
5.5 

4.7 
6.0 

6.9 

1.4 
0.6 

8.0 

3.6 
0.1 

1.1 
10.5 

1.1 
1.9 

4.3 

8.2 
7.0 

6.9 

6.7 
5.5 

4.1 
4.0 

3.7 
3.2 

3.0 

6.6 
4.3 

5.9 

4.8 
1.0 

1.2 

5.6 

0.8 
1.2 

2.0 

2.2 

2.3 
8.7 

5.1 
11.0 

3.6 
4.4 

3.8 

4.1 

3.8 

2.0 
1.4 

8.1 

3.8 
2.0 

1.4 
7.6 

0.9 
1.5 

2.4 

Iron  and  Steel,  Steel  Works  and 
Rolling  Mills 

Liquors,  Distilled 

Automobiles,    including   Bodies 
and  Parts               

Lumber  and  Timber  Products  __ 
Carriages,  Wagons,  and  Mater- 
ials         

Furniture  and  Refrigerators.  __ 
Cars   and   General    Shop   Con- 
struction, Steam  Railroad  Co's. 

TOTALS. 

45.6 

32.6 

52.3 

33.4 

49.0 

31.1 

As  far  as  the  value  of  output  is  a  criterion,  slaughter- 
ing and  meat  packing,  with  products  worth  $47,000,000,  was 
the  most  important  industry.  Yet  the  number  of  beeves, 
hogs,  and  sheep  converted  into  meat  was  considerably  less 


MANUFACTURES  63 

in  1909  than  a  decade  before,  because  between  the  censuses 
of  1899  and  1904  the  largest  packing  house  in  the  state 
moved  from  Hammond  into  Illinois,  and  nearly  cut  in  half 
the  extent  of  the  meat  business  in  Indiana.  However,  there 
has  been  so  rapid  an  increase  in  prices  that  by  1909  the 
value  of  the  meat  was  greater  than  in  1899. 

Altho  the  number  of  barrels  of  white  flour,  of  buck- 
wheat flour,  and  of  cornmeal,  and  the  number  of  tons  of  feed 
manufactured  in  Indiana  was  in  each  case  less  in  1909  than 
in  1899,  the  value  of  the  products  of  flour  and  grist  mills 
has  steadily  increased.  Nevertheless,  the  state  has  now 
fallen  from  sixth  to  eighth  place  in  this  branch  of  industry, 
partly  because  of  the  unfavorable  railroad  rates  in  the  nine- 
ties when  the  freight  tariffs  favored  the  hauling  of  wheat 
rather  than  flour,  partly  because  of  the  policy  of  the  rail- 
roads to  encourage  milling  in  a  few  great  centers,  and  partly 
because  of  the  relatively  greater  advantages  of  raising  corn 
than  wheat  in  Indiana. 

Between  1899  and  1909,  foundry  and  machine  shop 
products,  iron  and  steel  from  steel  works  and  rolling  mills, 
and  distilled  liquors  practically  doubled  in  value,  and  the 
manufacture  of  automobiles  was  begun,  the  first  gasoline 
driven  car  ever  made  having  been  constructed  at  Kokomo  in 
1893.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  same  period  the  prepara- 
tion of  lumber  and  timber  products  was  cut  in  half,  so  far 
as  the  quantity  of  output  is  concerned,  but  the  value  of  the 
products  was  only  slightly  diminished.  Similarly,  altho  the 
value  of  carriages,  wagons,  and  materials  produced  increas- 
ed during  the  decade,  the  number  of  vehicles  turned  out  in 
every  class  except  that  of  business  wagons  fell  off  in  the 
five  years  ending  in  1909.  The  value  of  furniture  and  re- 
frigerators produced  has  increased,  mainly  because  it  has 
been  possible  to  import  hard  woods. 

The  trend  of  Indiana  manufactures  from  industries 
using  raw  materials  produced  in  the  state  to  lines  depend- 
ing on  stuffs  from  without  the  commonwealth  is  undeniably 
demonstrated  by  a  comparison  of  the  data  for  1860  with 
the  situation  in  1909  as  shown  by  the  table  at  the  end  of 
this  chapter.  In  1860,  it  will  be  recalled,  four  industries 
based  on  raw  materials  of  the  state,  produced  five-eighths  of 
the  manufactured  products.  This  rough  classification  of 
industries  shows  that  of  the  products  of  Indiana  manufac- 
tures about  twenty-nine  per  cent  originate  in  raw  materials 


64 


INDIANA 


from  her  own  farms  and  forests,  and  a  little  over  six  per 
cent  derive  their  stocks  from  other  resources  of  the  state. 
Therefore  less  than  three-eighths  of  the  manufacturing  is 
primarily  a  state  affair,  while  nearly  two-thirds  involves 
importation  of  raw  materials.  There  is  nothing  deplorable 
in  such  a  condition,  for  the  most  highly  industrialized  of  the 
United  States  have  to  rely  on  other  regions  for  an  even 
larger  per  cent  of  their  raw  materials. 

Another  interesting  aspect  of  manufacturing  in  India- 
na is  disclosed  by  a  comparison  of  the  degree  of  concentra- 
tion of  industry  in  several  of  the  leading  industrial  states, 
as  described  in  the  following  table : 

Concentration  of  Manufacturing  Industry,  1909. 


STATE 

PER  CENT  OF 

PER  CENT  OF 

Wage  Earners 

Products 

Value  Added  tn 
Manufacture 

Wage  Earners 

Products 

Value  Added  in 
Manufacture 

In  Five  Largest  Factory  Industries 

In  Ten  Largest  Factory  Industries 

Rhode  Island  .  . 
Massachusetts  _ 
Illinois  

66.8 

52.6 
34.6 
30  8 
26.0 
18.9 
32.2 
23.0 

61.6 

46.9 
41.2 
39.3 
36.6 
34.3 
30.8 
28.7 

60.4 
46.7 
34.0 
33.4 
27-4 
29  3 
34.6 
21.4 

72.9 

60.8 
43.5 
46.5 
41.6 
45.6 
41.2 
34.2 

69.8 
59.0 
54.1 
51.5 
48.8 
52.3 
42.3 
40.3 

67.0 
55.8 
48.4 
47.3 
42.7 
49.0 
46.3 
33.7 

Pennsylvania  __ 
Ohio 

Indiana.  
New  York 

New  Jersey  

United  States  __ 

24.1 

27.2 

22  9 

42.9 

41.1 

39  3 

These  figures  show  that  Indiana  resembles  the  great 
industrial  states  in  the  fact  that  her  manufactures  are  so 
largely  concentrated,  five  leading  industries  producing  a 
full  third  of  her  products  and  ten  producing  well  over  half. 
Altho  she  exhibits  no  such  intense  specialization  as  does 
Rhode  Island,  a  state  having  over  five  hundred  inhabitants 
to  the  square  mile  and  nearly  ninety-seven  per  cent  of  her 
population  in  incorporated  cities  of  twenty-five  hundred  or 
more,  the  Hoosier  commonwealth  does  show  considerably 
greater  concentration  than  the  United  States  as  a  whole. 

In  still  another  respect  can  the  claim  of  Indiana  to  rank 
among  the  foremost  of  the  industrial  states  be  upheld,  for 
in  1909  over  forty-seven  per  cent  of  the  output  of  her  fac- 
tories was  produced  by  establishments  doing  a  business  of  a 
million  dollars  or  more,  while  for  the  United  States  as  a 
whole  forty-four  per  cent  of  the  manufacturing  was  done  in 


MANUFACTURES  65 

the  large  plants.  This  is  not  a  striking  difference  until  one 
notes  that  in  1904  the  facts  were  reversed,  thirty-eight  per 
cent  of  the  value  of  the  products  of  the  factories  of  the 
country  as  a  whole  and  thirty-four  per  cent  of  those  of  In- 
diana coming  from  the  larger  establishments.  For  this 
reason  it  seems  that  the  state  is  developing  the  typical  large 
factory  of  the  industrial  communities. 

,  Reasons. 

First  among  the  forces  that  have  combined  to  make 
possible  this  industrial  development  in  Indiana  must  be  put 
the  geographical  location  of  the  commonwealth.  Including 
within  her  borders  both  the  center  of  population  and  the 
center  of  manufactures  for  the  United  States  as  a  whole, 
Indiana  is  superbly  situated  to  capture  wide  markets  and  to 
secure  cheap  raw  materials.  Moreover,  the  state  touches 
the  Great  Lakes,  and  lies  across  the  path  of  the  great  trunk 
lines  of  railroad,  and  many  north  and  south  lines,  and  has, 
therefore,  exceptionally  good  transportation  facilities.  <  Sec- 
ond may  be  mentioned  the  ease  of  obtaining  power.  Altho 
the  Hoosier  rivers  are  lacking  in  good  dam  sites  and  the 
supply  of  gas  seems  to  be  nearly  exhausted,  coal  of  excellent 
steaming  qualities  is  cheap  all  over  the  state.  Third,  the 
land  which  furnished  wheat  and  lumber  to  the  early  mills, 
still  produces  wheat,  and  brings  forth  abundant  corn.  The 
grains  are  now  turned  into  meat  and  liquors.  Many  other 
natural  resources,  especially  sands  and  clays,  furnish  bases 
of  profitable  industries.  Fourth,  the  labor  supply  has  been 
ample,  peaceable,  and  intelligent,  but  the  small  proportion 
of  alien  workers  is  now  being  increased  by  the  hosts  of  im- 
migrants to  the  coal  fields  and  to  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  state.  In  view  of  these  conditions,  and  especially  in 
view  of  the  peculiar  advantages  of  the  lake  front,  it  seems 
not  beyond  reason  to  expect  an  increasing  growth  of  manu- 
facturing in  Indiana. 


66 


INDIANA 


Manufactures  in  Indiana,  1909. 


EsUtablisrhments  | 

WAGE 
EARNERS 

VALUE  OF 
PRODUCTS 

VALUE  ADDED 
BY 
MANUFACTURE 

Per  cent  of 
Increase  in 
Value  of 
Products 

Per  cent  of 
Increase  in 
Value  Added 
by   Man'frs 

1 

1 

£ 

$ 

1 
& 

$ 

i 

£ 

1904 
1909 

1899 
1904 

1904 
1909 

1899 
1904 

A.    Main  Raw  Material  a  Product  of  Indiana 
Agriculture  or  Forests     

2305 

61 
563 
14 
754 
134 
37 
4 
470 
132 
118 

10 
8 

20,876 

4,423 
2,298 
428 
2,505 
3,406 
1,594 
866 
2,794 
488 
1,240 

398 
436 

11.2 

2.4 
1.2 
.2 
1.3 
1.8 
0.9 
0.5 
1.5 
0.3 
0.7 

0.2 
0.2 

167,279,000 

47,289,000 
40,541,000 
31,610,000 
10,209,000 
8,758,000 
8,313,000 
5,750,000 
4,155,000 
3,959,000 
3,406,000 

2,311,000 
978,000 

29.0 

8.2 
7.0 
5.5 
1.8 
1.5 
1.4 
1.0 
0.7 
0.7 
0.6 

0.4 
0.2 

57,572,000 

5,303,000 
5,539,000 
26,898,000 
3,983,000 
2,813,000 
6,324,000 
1,068,000 
2,565,000 
763,000 
1,404,000 

598,000 
314,000 

23.5 

2.2 
2.3 
11.0 
1.6 
1.2 
2.6 
0.4 
1.0 
0.3 
0.6 

0.2 
0.1 

1.  Slaughtering  and  Meat  Packing.  .. 
2.   Flour  and  Grist  Mill  Products  
3.  Liquors,  distilled  _ 

60.7 
11.2 
54.0 
47.2 
48.6 
34.2 
180.8 
6.4 

-32.9 
25.6 
21.0 
66.5 
87.4 
7.3 
106.9 
50.5 

66.4 
7.9 
53.5 
42.0 
21.2 
42.6 
94.5 
10.4 

-39.4 
21.2 
16.6 
53.5 
89.5 
-4.6 
24.8 
39.9 

4.   Bread  and  other  Bakery  Products  - 
5.  Canning  and  Preserving  __  _ 

6.  Liquors,  Malt 

7.  Glucose  and  Starch  

8.  Tobacco  Manufactures 

9.  Butter,  Cheese,  and  Condensed  Milk 
10.  Leather  Goods  

70.5 
119.9 
112.6 

39.8 
-33.9 
-50.9 

56.0 
108.4 
96.2 

50.0 
-28.8 
-38.fr 

11.  Leather,  Tanned,  Curried,  and 
Finished   ._.       -__ 

12.   Boots  and  Shoes,  including  cut 
stock  and  findings  

B.    Main  Raw  Material  an  Indiana  Resource 
not  a  Product  of  Agriculture  or  Forests  

1.  Glass  

954 

44 
11 
200 
311 
53 
31 
85 
219 

23,078 

9,544 
2,318 
3,283 
3,788 
928 
2,186 
563 
468 

12.3 

5.1 

1.2 
1.8 
2.0 
0.5 
1.2 
0.3 
0.2 

37,365,000 

11,593,000 
7,022,000 
5,756,000 
4,719,000 
3,147,000 
2,966,000 
1,311,000 
851,000 

6.3 

2.0 
1.2 
1.0 
0.8 
0.5 
0.5 
0.2 
0.1 

22,826,000 

6,865,000 
2,863,000 
3,996,000 
3  414  000 

9.3 

2.8 
1.2 
1.6 
1  4 

-21.2 

447.3 
69.3 
236 

-0.3 

-25.0 
232.5 
79.8 
20.4 

-10.1 

2.  Cement 

3.  Marble  and  Stone  Work  __. 

106.5 
30.3 

110.4 
19.2 

4.   Brick  and  Tile.. 

5.   Gas,  Illuminating  and  Heating  
6.   Pottery,  Terra  Cotta,  and  Fire  Clay 
7.   Ice,  Manufactured 

2,045,000 
2,107,000 
985  000 

0.8 
0.9 
04 

71.1 
12.2 
75  3 

77.9 
104.7 
375 

61.3 
5.5 
67.8 

63.0 
104.0 
38.8 

8.  Artificial  Stone  

551,000 

0.2 

295.8 

274.8 

C.  Mam  Raw  Material  a  Product  of  Agricul-  ) 
hire,  not  Raised  in  Indiana,  or  of  Forests  - 
outside  of  Indiana        ..          ) 

2141 

1277 
221 
201 
42 
27 

113 

15 
64 

7 

57 
5 
18 

8 
11 

19 
27 
13 

9 

7 

48,915 

10,317 
8,867 
11,284 
4.073 
1,501 

801 

1,667 
885 

1,582 

891 
1,933 
1,291 

719 
776 

669 
553 
550 

390 
166 

26.1 

5.5 
4.7 
6.0 
2.2 
0.8 

0.4 

0.9 
0.5 

0.8 

0.5 
1.0 
0.7 

0.4 
0.4 

0.4 
0.3 
0.3 

0.2 
0.1 

104,526,000 

23,135,000 
21,655,000 
18,456,000 
8,029,000 
5,202,000 

4,344,000 

3,686,000 
2,558,000 

2,502,000 

2.398,000 
2,381,000 
2,058,000 

1,887,000 
1,570,000 

1,448,000 
1,287,000 
782,000 

610,000 
538,000 

17.9 

4.0 
3.7 
3.2 
1.4 
0.9 

0.8 

0.6 
0.4 

0.4 

0.4 
0.4 
0.4 

0.3 
0.3 

0.2 
0.2 
0.1 

0.1 
1  0.1 

48,717,000 

10,753,000 
9,197,000 
9.996,000 
3,377,000 
1,705,000 

2,884,000 

1,983,000 
1.035,000 

832,000 

899.000 
1,466,000 
1,001,000 

663,000 
514,000 

747,000 
596.000 
360,000 

502,000 
207,000 

19.9 

4.4 
3.8 
4.1 
1.4 
0.7 

1.2 

0.8 
0.4 

0.3 

0.4 
0.6 
0.4 

0.3 
0.2 

0.3 
0.2 
0.1 

0.2 
0.1 

7.7 
12.4 
32,2 
48.1 
32.8 

-1.5 

-16.3 
21.8 
59.2 
27.0 
-6.1 

83.5 

10.6 
9.6 
21.3 
56.5 
21.8 

-2.4 

-23.8 
15.6 
74.0 
20.8 
-17.6 

73.7 

1.  Lumber  and  Timber  Products  
2.  Carriages,  Wagons,  &  Materials  ... 
3.   Furniture  and  Refrigerators 

4.  Clothing,  Men's  including  Shirts.  . 
5.  Paper  and  Wood  Pulp    

6.  Patent  Medicines  and  Compounds 
and  Dr  uggi  sts  Preparations  
7.  Musical  Instruments,  Pianos  and 
Organs  and  Materials 

8.  Confectionery  .  .      „     ._  . 

67.2 
68.6 

-13.6 
13.1 
-2.2 

142.2 

22.5 
11.2 

Vl3~.2 

67.8 

101.8 

48.1 
141.9 

-9.5 
46.6 
-10.7 

183.3 

25.3 
-45.7 

"-T8.3 
84.7 

30.0 

9.  Cotton  Goods,  including  Cotton 
Small  Wares    

10.  Cooperage  and    Wooden    Goods, 
not  elsewhere  specified 

11.  Hosiery  and  Knit  Goods  

12.  Clothing,  Women's 

13.  Paper  Goods,  not  elsewhere 
specified  

14.  Woolen,  Worsted  and  Felt  Goods 
and  Wool  Hats 

15.  Coffins,  Burial  Cases  and  Under- 
takers Goods 

30.8 
50.7 
92.1 

73.3 
96.4 

38.5 
66.8 

74.7 

70.9 
163.5 

17.6 
42.9 
87.5 

90.2 
52.2 

49.1 
86.2 
39.1 

58.1 
126.7 

16.  Mattresses  and  Bed  Springs  

17.  Boxes,  fancy  and  paper 

18.  Musical  Instruments  and  Mater- 
ials, not  specified  

19.  Millinery  and  Lace  Goods  

MANUFACTURES 
Manufactures  in  Indiana,  1909.     [Continued.] 


67 


Number  of 
Establishments 

WAGE 
EARNERS 

VALUE  OF 
PRODUCTS 

VALUE  ADDED 
BY 
MANUFACTURE 

Per  cent  of 
Increase  in 
Value  of 
Products 

Per  cent  of 
Increase  in 
Value  Added 
by  Man'frs 

| 

1 
J! 

$ 

1 

I 

$ 

i 

I 

1904 
1909 

1899 
1904 

1904 
1909 

1899 
1904 

D.   Main  Raw  Material  not  a  Product  of  Agri-  / 
culture  or  of  Forests  and  not  a  Product  of  - 
Indiana                                                   \ 

1797 

415 
17 
67 

34 
892 
39 

7 
42 
146 
31 

24 
21 
18 

24 

8 

12 

72,427 
15,809 
12,255 
6,797 

12,884 
6,756 
4,749 

4,084 
3,073 
2,121 
689 

1,362 
468 
200 

572 
266 

342 

38.7 

8.5 
6.6 
3.6 

6.9 
3.6 
2.5 

2.2 
1.6 
1.1 
0.4 

0.7 
0.3 
0.1 

0.3 
0.1 

0.2 

181,262,000 

39,884,000 
38,652,000 
23,764,000 

17,128,000 
14,356,000 
13,670,000 

9,498,000 
7,718,000 
5,763,000 
3,161,000 

2,751,000 
1,379,000 
1,108,000 

933,000 
877,000 

620,000 

31.4 

6.9 
6.7 
4.1 

3.0 
2.5 
2.4 

1.6 
1.3 
1.0 

0-5 

0.5 
0.2 
0.2 

0.2 
0.2 

0.1 

85,635,000 
21,265,000 
12,553,000 
8,769,000 

9,252,000 
10,331,000 
8,806,000 

3,189,000 
4,025,000 
2,332,000 
819,000 

1,730,000 
605,000 
425,000 

530,000 
669,000 

335,000 

35.0 

8.7 
5.1 
3.6 

3.8 
4.2 
3.6 

1.3 
1.6 
1.0 
0.3 

0.7 
0.2 
0.2 

0.2 
0.3 

0.2 

55.8 
128.4 
1349.9 

18.0 
25.1 
69.6 

-5.4 
170.1 
99.8 
86.4 
35.5 

24.9 
-12.5 

41.7 
28.0 
25.7 

11.4 
80.1 

54.2 

52.6 
108.7 
976.0 

23.2 
24.5 
73.1 

-0.1 
124.9 
68.1 
46.2 
41.5 

32.2 
-12.8 

56.9 
26.9 
34.0 

17.4 
123.2 

1.3 

1.  Foundry  and  Machine  Shop  Prod'ts 
2.  Iron  and  Steel,  Steel  Works  and 
Rolling  Mills  

3.  Automobiles,  including  bodies  and 
parts 

4.  Cars  and  general  shop  construction 
and  repairs  by  Steam  R.  R.  Co's_ 
5.   Printing  and  Publishing  

6.  Agricultural  Implements 

7.  Cars,  steam-railroad,  not  including 
operations  of  railroad  companies 
8.  Electrical  Machinery,  apparatus 
and  supplies 

9.  Copper,  Tin,  and  Sheet  Iron  pro- 
ducts            ._ 

10.  Wire  Works,  including  wire  Rope 
and  Cable  

11.  Stoves  and  Furnaces,   including 
Gas  and  Oil  Stoves  

12.  Brass  and  Bronze  Products 

13.  Paint  and  Varnish 

48.1 

10.7 
321.6 

85.6 

-43.6 
60.0 

36.7 

12.3 
300.6 

110.1 

-50.5 
70.4 

14.  Cutlery  and  Tools,  not  elsewhere 
specified 

15.  Scales  and  Balances  .. 

16.  Gas  and  Electric  Light  Fixtures 
and  Lamps  and  Reflectors  

E.    All  Other  Industries 

772 

21,688 

11.6 

88,643,000 

15.3 

29,950,000 

12.2 

CHAPTER  V. 


Transportation 


If  the  French  "gained  their  entrance  to  the  new  conti- 
ment  of  America  thru  the  back  door,"  Indiana  was  the 
threshold.  Indiana  was  useful  to  these  people  because  of 
the  fact  that  the  best  route  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the 
Mississippi  led  down  the  Wabash  River  into  the  Ohio.  On 
the  banks  of  these  two  streams  the  settlement  of  the  state 
began.  On  their  waters  the  first  extensive  commerce 
sprang  up,  first  the  French  fur  trade  and  later  the  ship- 
ments of  the  colonizers  from  the  Atlantic  coast,  shipments 
mostly  of  pork,  beef,  tallow,  tar,  fur,  and  flour,  the  products 
of  a  very  primitive  stage  of  culture.  It  is  surprising  to 
learn  that  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  flatboats  laden 
with  these  articles  of  commerce  annually  passed  down  the 
Wabash  and  White  Rivers,  and  that  even  as  late  as  1830 
steamers  ascended  as  far  as  Lafayette.  Indeed,  it  was 
once  asserted  that  the  state  afforded  twenty-five  hundred 
miles  of  navigable  water  ways,  but  the  author  of  this  state- 
ment, Timothy  Flint,  included  any  brook  that  seemed  ca- 
pable of  floating  a  flatboat  at  high  water.  The  state  has 
spent  much  money  building  canals  along  the  courses  of  these 
streams,  or  connecting  them,  but  today,  an  occasional  wat- 
er-power is  the  only  commercial  function  of  these  canals, 
which  in  the  forties  played  an  important  part  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  commonwealth.  Particularly  was  the  "Wa- 
bash and  Erie  Canal"  instrumental  in  building  up  the 
northern  part  of  the  state.  By  furnishing  cheap  transpor- 
tation in  a  community  where  the  commercial  range  of  a 
barrel  of  flour  was  one  hundred  fifty  miles  because  its  value 
was  eaten  up  completely  by  the  cost  of  carrying  it  farther, 
these  canals  actually  did  encourage  trade.  They  also  fur- 
nished water-powers  to  mills  that  sprang  up  on  their  banks, 
and  thus  attracted  settlers  to  the  farms  along  the  routes. 
Altho  they  failed  financially,  they  left  their  impress  upon 


TRANSPORTATION  69 

the  state,  for  they  did  contribute  materially  to  its  progress. 
Today  an  occasional  enthusiast  agitates  the  canalization 
of  the  Wabash  or  the  White  River,  or  the  construction  of  a 
water  way  to  connect  Lake  Michigan  with  Lake  Erie.  Such 
a  man  is  blind  to  the  fact  that  was  clear  to  Governor  Ray 
in  1830;  a  canal  costs  many  times  as  much  as  a  railway  that 
will  afford  equal  carrying  capacity,  and  is,  in  these  latitudes, 
out  of  service  part  of  the  year  because  of  ice,  and,  in  ad- 
dition, it  affords  too  slow  a  method  of  transportation.  The 
only  water  ways  of  importance  in  Indiana  today  are  the 
Ohio  and  Lake  Michigan.  The  lake  traffic  seems  to  bid  fair 
to  increase  indefinitely  as  the  shore  becomes  more  and  more 
thickly  covered  with  large  industrial  undertakings,  such  as 
the  steel  plants  at  Gary  and  at  East  Chicago. 

Roads. 

The  early  settlers  of  Indiana  could  not  do  all  their  trav- 
eling by  water;  consequently  they  followed  the  Indian  trails 
that  led  everywhere  in  an  intricate  network.  But  these 
trails  were  not  suitable  for  the  passage  of  wagons,  so  the 
earliest  roads  were  laid  out  by  the  simple  process  of  clearing 
away  enough  timber  and  brush  to  permit  a  wheeled  vehicle 
to  go  thru.  Lest  the  traveler  lose  his  way  these  "traces" 
had  to  be  marked  by  blazing.  The  "Three  Notch  Road," 
for  instance,  which  went  south  from  Indianapolis  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Capital's  existence,  was  distinguished  by 
three  ax  marks  on  the  trees  at  frequent  intervals.  Many 
of  these  early  roads  followed  the  Indian  trails  which  had 
been  so  well  placed  that  engineers  could  not  improve  upon 
the  judgment  of  the  savages;  even  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road has  adopted  one  of  these  routes  most  of  the  way  from 
Richmond  to  Indianapolis. 

By  the  time  that  Indiana  became  a  state,  the  need  for 
good  roads  was  beginning  to  be  imperative,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  comprehensive  plans  were  formed.  By  1820  a 
system  had  been  conceived  which  included  five  highways 
leading  out  from  Indianapolis,  and  twenty-one  others  con- 
necting the  important  cities  of  the  state.  The  fact  that 
each  of  these  roads  was  intrusted  to  a  separate  set  of  state 
commissioners  resulted  in  highly  inefficient  planning  and 
execution.  The  salaries  of  all  these  commissioners  were  a 
large  drain  on  the  available  funds,  roads  were  laid  out  where 
the  possible  traffic  by  no  means  warranted  the  expense  of 


70  INDIANA 

construction,  and  highways  were  put  thru  the  forests  on 
wet  ground  that  spelled  failure  from  the  inception  of  the 
plan  and  that  made  it  necessary  for  travelers  in  the  spring- 
time to  exercise  great  care  to  keep  off  the  road  lest  they  be 
hopelessly  mired.  Some  roads  were,  however,  of  immense 
importance  to  the  development  of  the  state. 

The  Michigan  Road  which  ran  from  Trail  Creek  on  Lake 
Michigan  thru  South  Bend,  Indianapolis,  and  Greens- 
burg  to  Madison,  265  miles,  was  laid  out  in  1828,  and  ac- 
tually completed  by  1838.  This  road  was  paid  for  by  the 
sale  of  lands  received  by  the  state  from  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment and  from  the  Pottawatima  Indians.  The  state  sold 
the  land  on  the  installment  plan,  and  then  issued  bonds  se- 
cured by  the  mortgages  on  the  land,  which  were  given  to  the 
contractors  in  payment  for  their  work.  For  a  time  the 
road  was  a  very  important  commercial  highway,  but  with 
the  completion  of  the  Wabash  and  Erie  Canal,  that  reached 
Lafayette  in  1843,  its  usefulness  was  considerably  dimin- 
ished. 

The  National  Road  was  built  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, crossing  the  state  from  east  to  west  and  touching  the 
important  cities  of  Richmond,  Indianapolis,  and  Terre  Haute. 
The  famous  highway  reached  Wayne  County  in  1827  and 
was  slowly  extended  westward  until  in  1846  it  was  over- 
taken at  Vandalia,  Illinois,  by  the  railway,  and  further  con- 
struction was  abandoned.  This  road,  altho  not  built  as  well 
as  could  have  been  wished,  was,  nevertheless,  a  great  path 
for  seekers  of  homes  in  the  state.  Twenty  taverns  graced 
its  course  thru  Wayne  County  alone,  and  during  the  for- 
ties there  was  a  ceaseless  rush  of  wagons  that  followed  each 
other  so  closely  that  at  times  not  a  minute  passed  without 
one  being  in  sight.  The  eastbound  traffic,  altho  not  nearly 
so  heavy,  was  quite  respectable,  consisting  largely  of  cattle 
and  hogs  being  driven  to  markets.  In  1848  this  road  was 
turned  over  by  the  Federal  Government  to  the  state,  which 
promptly  transferred  it  to  various  private  companies  that 
were  to  keep  it  in  repair  and  to  collect  the  tolls.  By  the 
opening  of  the  Civil  War  most  of  these  companies  had 
abandoned  their  rights  to  the  highway.  In  the  last  decade 
of  the  nineteenth  century  local  governments  regained  con- 
trol of  the  road,  the  last  suits  coming  into  the  courts  in  1906. 

One  of  the  reasons  that  Indiana  so  promptly  abandoned 
the  National  Road  to  private  companies  was  that  she  had 


TRANSPORTATION  71 

already  had  bitter  experience  with  her  internal  improve- 
ments. The  state  had  gone  deeply  into  debt  to  make  the 
canals  and  the  turnpikes,  and  the  panic  of  1837  compelled 
the  abandonment  of  many  projects  in  all  stages  of  construc- 
tion and  the  repudiation  of  some  of  the  bonds.  So  unre- 
servedly had  the  state  abandoned  its  plans  that  in  1841  a 
law  was  passed  that  allowed  any  private  company  to  as- 
sume ownership  and  operation  of  any  uncompleted  public 
work,  except  the  Wabash  and  Erie  Canal,  on  the  sole  con- 
dition that  the  corporation  would  finish  the  undertaking. 
Road  building  now  became  largely  a  private  venture,  and 
during  the  forties  a  great  many  plank  road  corporations 
were  chartered.  These  companies  built  and  maintained 
good  thorofares  according  to  the  plans  which  Robert  Dale 
Owen  had  introduced  into  Indiana.  Deterioration,  however, 
was  quite  rapid  and  the  companies  were  forced  to  adopt 
gravel  which  was  first  legally  mentioned  as  a  road  material 
in  1858. 

In  1879  came  the  beginning  of  the  present  system  of 
road  supervision  with  the  authorization  of  the  control  and 
maintenance  of  free  turnpikes  by  the  county  commissioners. 
Today  the  roads  are  under  the  management  of  the  county  or 
of  the  municipality.  Every  township  has  a  Road  Super- 
visor whose  duty  it  is  to  call  out  all  able-bodied  males  from 
twenty-one  to  fifty  years  of  age  for  four  days'  labor  on  the 
highways  each  year.  A  man  may  avoid  personal  exertion 
by  the  payment  of  a  dollar  and  a  half  for  each  day's  work 
he  owes.  The  Supervisor  superintends  the  work  of  these 
men  and  hires  extra  labor  if  necessary.  But  the  township 
may  not  levy  a  tax  exceeding  thirty  cents  per  hundred  dol- 
lars of  assessable  property  for  the  road  work.  Beginning 
with  the  election  in  November  1914,  each  road  district,  of 
which  a  town  may  not  have  more  than  four,  is  to  elect  its 
own  Supervisor.  These  District  Supervisors,  subject  to  the 
direction  of  the  Township  Trustee,  are  to  exercise  the  same 
functions  as  did  the  one  Supervisor  then  serving.  The  ad- 
vantage of  the  law  is  that,  without  sacrificing  central  con- 
trol, now  to  be  vested  in  the  trustee,  it  provides  for  a  keener 
interest  in  a  particular  group  of  roads,  and  gives  opportu- 
nity for  more  definite  responsibility.  In  incorporated  towns 
and  cities  the  streets  are  entrusted  to  Street  Commissioners 
or  to  Boards  of  Public  Works. 

The    County   Highway    Superintendent    is    an    officer 


72  INDIANA 

created  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1913,  to  have  general 
supervision  over  the  roads  of  the  county.  He  is  to  appoint 
Assistant  Superintendents  not  to  exceed  in  number  four  per 
hundred  miles  of  county  road.  These  assistants  are  to  in- 
spect all  their  roads  at  least  once  a  month  and  to  report 
their  observations,  together  with  the  work  they  have  done, 
for  they  must  keep  the  roads  free  from  depressions  and  ruts, 
well  drained,  and  cleanly  ditched.  The  County  Superintend- 
ent directs  his  Assistants,  and  sets  the  standard  for  their 
work;  but  he  cannot  expend  more  than  fifty  dollars  for  the 
repair  of  a  bridge  or  a  culvert  without  the  approval  of  the 
County  Commissioners  to  whom  he  annually  submits  an 
estimate  of  the  cost  of  maintenance  for  the  coming  year. 
This  board  has  to  make  all  contracts  for  construction.  In 
counties  having  less  than  two  hundred  miles  of  gravel  or 
macadam  road,  the  Surveyor  may  act  as  the  Superintendent 
of  Highways.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  new  adjustment 
of  road  supervision  in  the  townships  and  counties,  by  pro- 
viding for  some  one  continually  "on  the  job"  in  a  limited 
district,  will  result  in  more  prompt  and  efficient  repairs. 

There  are  several  legal  processes  by  which  road  build- 
ing or  improvement  is  initiated.  It  will  suffice  here  to 
mention  one  that  has  been  of  great  value  in  the  improve- 
ment of  county  transportation  facilities.  On  the  petition 
of  a  majority  of  the  freeholders  who  must  own  at  least  a 
majority  of  acres  of  land  within  a  mile  of  any  public  high- 
way in  the  county,  the  County  Commissioners  may  order 
the  improvement  of  the  road  if  investigation  by  an  engineer 
and  three  disinterested  "viewers"  warrants  the  belief  that 
the  cost  of  the  work  will  be  less  than  the  benefit  to  the  land 
within  two  miles  of  the  road,  but  not  in  an  incorporated 
place.  After  due  notice  to  the  public  and  hearings  of  those 
who  oppose  the  improvement,  the  contracts  may  be  let. 
The  cost  is  then  assessed  upon  the  holders  of  the  property 
benefited  and  may  be  called  for  by  the  superintendent  of 
the  construction  at  a  rate  not  greater  than  ten  per  cent  per 
month.  However,  if  the  owners  of  the  land  prefer,  the 
County  Treasurer  may  issue  bonds  bearing  interest  at  not 
more  than  six  per  cent  payable  semi-annually,  and  the  own- 
ers may  pay  their  assessments  in  ten  equal  annual  install- 
ments which  are  large  enough  to  cover  the  interest  on  the 
bonds  in  addition  to  the  cost  of  construction.  No  owner 
may  avail  himself  of  this  time  privilege  unless  he  waives  all 


TRANSPORTATION  73 

right  to  contest  the  validity  of  the  bonds  which  constitute 
a  lien  upon  his  land  until  his  assessments  are  all  paid. 

It  frequently  seems  right  that  the  whole  county  bear 
the  expense  of  constructing  or  improving  a  road.  In  this 
case  the  County  Commissioners  may  issue  bonds  to  secure 
the  money  for  the  work.  These  bonds  are  to  be  divided  into 
series  not  less  than  twenty  nor  more  than  forty  in  number. 
The  bonds  of  one  series  are  to  be  due  each  six  months,  so 
that  the  entire  debt  will  be  paid  in  from  ten  to  twenty  years. 
The  outstanding  issues  of  these  bonds  for  roads  may  not 
exceed  four  per  cent  of  the  value  of  the  taxable  property 
in  the  county.  Provided  the  interest  rate  does  not  exceed 
four  and  one-half  per  cent,  these  bonds  are  exempt  from 
taxation.  This  method  of  financing  gravel  roads  has  been 
very  popular  and  has  resulted  in  a  large  extension  of  the 
highway  system  of  the  state.  In  1910  over  twelve  hundred 
miles,  and  in  1913  over  sixteen  hundred  miles  (1,642.33)  of 
gravel  roads  were  constructed,  and  by  July  1914  the  state 
could  boast  of  a  total  of  26,716  miles  that  had  been  improv- 
ed. In  addition  to  this  there  were  some  37,256  miles  that 
were  graveled  but  unimproved. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  present  road  laws  have 
worked  to  the  material  bettering  of  the  highways  of  the 
state,  but  they  have  also  caused  a  heavy  drain  upon  the  tax- 
payers. The  outlay  is  certainly  well  worth  while  when 
wisely  made,  but  the  building  of  roads  has  been  all  too  fre- 
quently intrusted  to  careless  or  unloyal  superintendents  who 
have  allowed  skimping  by  contractors.  The  result  is  that 
some  of  the  roads  have  been  worn  out  long  before  the  bonds 
have  been  paid  off  and  they  have  had  to  be  repaired  at  large 
expense.  It  is  a  question  of  securing  efficiency  in  making 
and  enforcing  contracts  that  confronts  the  taxpayer  much 
more  than  the  question  of  the  desirability  of  road  improve- 
ments, for  it  is  certain  that  good  highways  bring  many  ad- 
vantages. Professor  W.  C.  Latta,  of  Purdue  University,  has 
estimated  that  the  difference  made  in  the  value  of  farm 
products  by  improving  roads  amounts  on  the  average  to 
seventy-eight  cents  per  acre  every  year,  simply  because  of 
the  great  saving  of  time  in  hauling,  which  may  be  done  the 
year  around.  He  holds  that  a  proper  betterment  of  the 
highways  would  increase  the  value  of  the  land  in  their  vi- 
cinity about  nine  dollars  an  acre.  Good  roads  have,  also,  a 
social  value,  for  they  enable  the  farmer  to  go  to  town  in 


74  INDIANA 

any  sort  of  weather;  he  need  not  be  cooped  up  on  his  place 
several  months  each  year.  A  Federal  report  prepared 
about  ten  years  ago,  estimated  the  expense  of  hauling  crops 
to  the  railroad  or  the  town  market  at  over  twenty  per  cent 
of  their  farm  value;  in  Indiana  this  expense  averaged  over 
a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  ton  or  twenty-eight  cents  per  ton 
mile.  The  economic  advantages  of  good  roads,  if  they  cut 
down  this  hauling  cost  even  a  few  per  cent,  are  therefore 
tremendous. 

Indiana  is  well  adapted  to  the  construction  of  high- 
ways, for  the  state  is  supplied  with  an  abundance  of  good 
material;  in  fact  all  but  nine  of  the  counties  have  either 
limestone,  or  gravel  beds.  None  of  these  materials  is  as 
durable  as  the  basalts  or  trap  rocks  found  in  some  states, 
yet  they  are  cheap  and  capable  of  giving,  with  proper  con- 
struction and  care,  a  good  and  a  moderately  long  lived  sur- 
face. 

The  problem  of  the  highways  in  Indiana  is,  as  else- 
where, much  complicated  by  the  large  number  of  automo- 
biles. The  use  of  these  machines  has  created  a  demand  on 
the  part  of  their  owners  for  better  roads,  and  at  the  same 
time  has  occasioned  a  greater  wear  on  the  existing  high- 
ways. One  of  the  greatest  enterprises  of  those  who  make 
their  living  directly  or  indirectly  from  manufacturing,  sell- 
ing, repairing,  and  outfitting  automobiles  and  from  furnish- 
ing comforts  to  those  who  ride  in  them  is  the  Lincoln  High- 
way. The  project  of  immediately  promoting  and  procuring 
"the  establishment  of  a  continuous  improved  highway  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  open  to  lawful  traffic  of  all  de- 
scriptions without  toll  charges ;  and  to  be  of  concrete  wher- 
ever practical"  originated  in  the  mind  of  Carl  G.  Fisher,  of 
Indianapolis,  and  was  launched  in  1911  by  a  meeting  of  men 
most  of  whom  are  financially  interested  in  the  supplying  of 
automobiles  and  accessories.  The  Lincoln  Highway  As- 
sociation was  incorporated  in  Michigan  to  raise  ten  million 
dollars  by  subscriptions  to  aid  the  states  in  building  this 
immense  highway,  the  longest  in  the  world.  It  enters  In- 
diana from  Van  Wert,  Ohio,  and  passes  thru  Fort  Wayne, 
Ligonier,  Elkhart,  South  Bend,  Laporte,  and  Valparaiso 
into  Illinois  at  Chicago  Heights.  It  is  planned  to  have  a 
feeder,  the  "Dixie  Highway,"  pass  South  thru  the  state  from 
Elkhart  on  the  Lincoln  Highway.  The  significance  of  these 
highway  movements  is  that  the  desire  of  those  rich  enough 


TRANSPORTATION  75 

to  afford  to  seek  pleasure  in  their  "machines,"  plus  the 
business  instinct  of  persons  who  see  large  gains  from 
having  a  host  of  automobiles  pass  thru  their  towns, 
could  in  a  few  years  procure  immense  expenditures  of  money 
for  the  perfecting  of  one  good  road  from  New  York  to  San 
Francisco.  The  pleasure,  doubtless,  is  legitimate,  the 
towns  along  the  route  will  certainly  gain  trade,  probably 
much  less  than  they  expect,  but  these  highways  will  be  of 
very  slight  commercial  value. 

What  Indiana  really  needs  is  a  standardization  of  road 
construction  and  maintenance  that  will  assure  honest  work 
by  contractors  at  fair  prices.  The  farmer  must  have  his 
good  roads  for  hauling,  without  bankruptcy  for  the  county. 

Railways. 

At  the  same  time  that  Indiana  as  a  state  was  embark- 
ing upon  her  great  plans  of  canal  and  road  building,  she 
began  seriously  to  consider  the  possibility  of  the  steam  rail- 
way. As  early  as  1827  Governor  James  B.  Ray  advocated 
the  construction  of  railways  connecting  the  Great  Lakes 
and  the  Ohio  River.  He  went  further  and  conceived  In- 
dianapolis as  the  center  of  radiating  lines,  with  villages 
every  five  miles,  towns  every  ten  miles,  and  real  cities  every 
twenty  miles  from  the  hub.  A  glance  at  a  railroad  map 
today  will  show  that  this  vision  was  in  some  degree  prophet- 
ic. Ray,  however,  was  little  heeded,  until  the  exhibitions 
of  Joseph  Buren,  who  traveled  over  the  state  giving  demon- 
strations of  a  tiny  locomotive  pulling  a  coach  that  carried 
live  people  around  a  portable  track,  began  to  create  acute 
interest  in  the  subject.  The  next  year,  1832,  eight  railway 
charters  were  voted  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  by  1837 
thirty  corporations  had  been  created  to  build  lines  connect- 
ing all  parts  of  the  state.  Altho  the  companies  were  in 
existence,  capital  was  wary.  By  1834  the  Lawrenceburg 
and  Indianapolis  Railroad  Company  had  constructed  a  mile 
and  a  quarter  of  track  near  Shelbyville  at  the  cost,  all  told, 
of  nineteen  hundred  dollars.  On  this  track  a  horse  pulled  a 
car  holding  forty  persons  at  the  rate  of  nineteen  miles  an 
hour.  But  the  cost  of  upkeep  and  operation  was  unknown, 
and  funds  to  complete  the  project  were  not  forthcoming. 
The  state  itself,  consequently,  had  to  bear  the  burden  of  the 
first  commercial  experiment  with  a  railroad. 


76  INDIANA 

One  of  the  first  charters  had  been  that  of  the  Madison 
and  Indianapolis  Railroad,  but  the  incorporators  had  ac- 
complished nothing.  "The  Mammoth  Internal  Improve- 
ment Bill"  signed  by  Governor  Noble  27  January,  1836,  au- 
thorized the  newly  created  commissioners  of  internal  im- 
provements to  construct  this  road  for  the  state.  Two  years 
later  the  first  eight  miles  were  formally  opened  with  a  lo- 
comotive that  had  to  be  borrowed  from  the  Lexington  and 
Ohio  Railroad  because  the  one  ordered  from  the  Baldwin 
works  in  Philadelphia  had  been  lost  at  sea.  After  con- 
structing some  twenty-eight  miles  the  state  leased  the  road 
which  was  eventually  completed  thru  to  Indianapolis  in 
1847,  by  the  company.  In  1852  the  state  sold  out  its  inter- 
est, and  the  road  became  entirely  a  private  venture. 

Private  building  was  so  stimulated  by  this  enterprise, 
that  by  1850  there  were  seven  roads  with  a  total  of  228 
miles  of  track  in  the  state.  In  1854  Indianapolis  was  the 
center  from  which  lines  ran  to  Madison,  Terre  Haute,  La- 
fayette, Peru,  and  Bellefontaine,  while  most  of  the  other 
important  cities  were  reached  by  connecting  lines.  Indian- 
apolis had  become  a  real  railway  center  with  the  first  Union 
Station  in  the  country  opened  in  1853,  thru  the  efforts 
of  Chauncey  Rose,  Oliver  H.  Smith,  and  John  Brough.  In 
this  decade  the  railway  expansion  was  enormous,  for  in  1860 
there  had  been  completed  2,163  miles.  Altho  the  propor- 
tionate increase  has  never  since  been  as  large,  the  building 
has  gone  steadily  forward  until  today,  with  thirty-four 
operating  and  eleven  terminal  companies  having  over  sev- 
enty-two hundred  miles  of  main  stem  and  over  twelve 
thousand  miles  of  track,  Indiana  is  one  of  the  best  equipped 
states  in  the  country  for  the  ready  marketing  of  its  pro- 
ducts. Across  the  commonwealth  from  east  to  west  run 
the  great  New  York  Central,  Pennsylvania,  Baltimore  and 
Ohio,  Grand  Trunk,  and  Erie  systems,  with  many  feeders  and 
ramifications.  These  roads  give  direct  and  rapid  service  to 
the  markets  of  the  eastern  coast.  They,  together  with  nu- 
merous other  roads,  like  the  Chicago,  Indianapolis,  and 
Louisville,  the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois,  the  Wabash, 
and  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio,  are  so  placed  as  to  make  direct 
routes  from/  almost  every  section  of  the  state  to  Chicago. 
From  many  regions  there  are  lines  to  St.  Louis  and  to  the 
large  cities  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  It  is,  indeed,  fortunate 


TRANSPORTATION  77 

for  the  state  to  be  situated  on  the  main  lines  of  trans-con- 
tinental traffic  and  to  be  convenient  to  large  markets. 

One  of  the  great  contributions  of  Indiana  to  the  art  of 
railroading  has  been  mentioned.  But  there  is  another  Hoos- 
ier  invention  as  important  as  the  Union  Depot,  namely  the 
Belt  Railroad  which  was  conceived  by  J.  F.  Richardson  and 
constructed  on  the  credit  of  Indianapolis  in  1876.  This  in- 
vention results  in  great  economy  in  the  interchange  of  traf- 
fic, and  gives  manufacturers  opportunity  to  ship  from  their 
own  spur  tracks  over  any  road  entering  the  city.  The  idea 
of  the  belt  line  has  been  widely  copied  thruout  the  country. 

Not  all  the  railroads  in  Indiana  are  prosperous,  for  in 
1913,  for  example,  out  of  thirty-four  operating  steam  rail- 
road companies,  only  twelve  paid  dividends.  Part  of  the 
meagreness  of  earnings  was  due  to  the  large  outlays  neces- 
sitated by  the  floods  of  that  year.  Some  roads  have  been 
built  thru  territory  that  is  not  sufficiently  productive  to 
afford  dividends  at  any  conceivable  freight  rates.  In  still 
other  cases,  according  to  the  Public  Service  Commission, 
feeders  have  been  sacrificed  to  the  main  stem,  and  oppor- 
tunities for  profitable  traffic  lost.  Finally,  earnings  have 
been  cut  down  by  the  expenses  of  fighting  regulation  by 
the  states  and  the  United  States.  On  the  whole  it  may  be 
said  that  those  roads  are  profitable  which  connect  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  with  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  or  which 
run  north  and  south  between  important  cities.  As  a  state 
Indiana  does  not  afford  very  profitable  traffic  for  many  rail- 
ways. 

Interurbans. 

Railroad  men  are  now  wondering  whether  they  will  con- 
tinue to  run  their  trains  with  steam  locomotives  or  will 
generate  the  power  at  some  central  plant  and  distribute  it 
over  wires.  Altho  there  had  been  some  experimenting 
with  electricity  as  a  propelling  force  in  1849  by  Farmer  and 
Page,  the  practical  electric  motor  was  not  invented  until 
Frank  J.  Sprague  developed  the  rudiments  of  the  modern 
system,  and  began  operating  cars  at  Richmond,  Virginia, 
in  1887.  This  invention  spread  much  more  rapidly  than 
that  of  the  steam  locomotive,  for  by  1890  there  had  been 
formed  two  hundred  companies  operating  twelve  hundred 
miles  of  track.  Indiana  was  not  slow  to  take  up  with  the 


78  INDIANA 

new  motive  power  for  street  railways,  and  one  of  her  citi- 
zens had  a  notion  that  he  might  carry  the  invention  still 
farther.  In  1892  Mr.  Charles  L.  Henry,  who  was  interested 
in  the  street  railways  in  Anderson,  went  south  and  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  connecting  Joplin,  Carthage,  and  Webb 
City,  Missouri,  by  an  electric  line.  He  could  not  secure  all 
the  necessary  concessions,  however,  and  came  back  to  In- 
diana determined  to  test  his  idea  nearer  home.  Under  the 
terms  of  a  state  law  which  allowed  a  city  railway  to  extend 
beyond  the  corporate  limits,  providing  the  County  Commis- 
sioners consented,  Mr.  Henry  extended  his  lines  until  he  had 
connected  Anderson  and  Alexandria,  and  ran  the  first 
thru  car  on  New  Year's  day  in  1898.  His  project  had 
been  delayed  by  the  difficulty  of  securing  capital,  owing  to 
the  long  continued  business  depression  that  followed  the 
panic  of  1893.  This  was  not  the  first  interurban  road  in 
existence,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  the  first  constructed  as 
an  electric  interurban  and  it  is  certain  that  Mr.  Henry  coined 
this  useful  term. 

Even  before  he  had  completed  the  Anderson  and  Alex- 
andria line,  Mr.  Henry  conceived  plans  for  entering  Indian- 
apolis, and  for  expanding  the  system  until  it  should  include 
all  the  lines  that  the  Union  Traction  Company  of  Indiana 
now  operates.  As  early  as  1895  he  had  actually  contracted 
with  the  Citizens'  Street  Railway  Company  of  Indianapolis 
to  run  his  cars  over  its  tracks  to  some  convenient  termin- 
ous  in  that  city.  But  he  was  not  the  first  to  complete  such 
connections,  for  on  the  first  of  January,  1900,  Joseph  I.  Ir- 
win,  constructor  of  the  Indianapolis,  Columbus,  and  South- 
ern, then  the  Indianapolis,  Greenwood,  and  Franklin,  rode 
on  the  first  electric  interurban  to  enter  the  capital. 

During  the  next  four  years,  a  period  of  great  industrial 
prosperity,  the  construction  of  interurbans  was  very  rapid 
and  by  1905  nine  lines  ran  out  from  Indianapolis,  and  three 
more  were  in  course  of  construction.  Since  then  the  system 
has  continued  to  grow  at  a  slower  rate,  and  appears  now  to 
have  about  reached  its  limits,  at  least  for  the  time,  as  very 
little  construction  is  being  attempted.  In  1914  the  interur- 
ban system  of  Indiana  comprised  2,137.25  miles  of  main 
stem  with  91.65  miles  of  second  track  and  89.02  of  side  track, 
upon  which  were  operated  1,229  passenger,  363  freight,  and 
78  mail,  baggage,  and  express  cars.  The  lines  centering  in 
Indianapolis  are  all  in  the  hands  of  four  large  companies, 


TRANSPORTATION  79 

The  Fort  Wayne  and  Northern  Indiana  Traction  Company, 
The  Interstate  Public  Service  Company,  a  subsidiary  of  the 
Middle  West  Utilities  Company,  The  Terre  Haute,  Indianapo- 
lis, and  Eastern  Traction  Company,  and  The  Union  Traction 
Company  of  Indiana.  These  holding  companies  are  inter- 
ested in  city  street  railways  and  lighting  plants  as  well  as 
in  interurbans. 

Indianapolis  is  still  the  center  of  interurban  operations 
as  thirteen  lines  radiate  from  it  carrying  in  and  out  nineteen 
thousand  passengers  daily.  One  road  goes  south  to  Jeffer- 
sonville,  one  goes  north  to  Elkhart,  one  goes  west  to  Terre 
Haute,  and  two  reach  the  eastern  border  of  the  state  at 
Richmond  and  at  Union  City,  while  thru  Fort  Wayne  it  is 
again  possible  to  enter  Ohio,  and  from  Elkhart  one  may 
travel  to  Chicago.  Between  these  long  distance  lines  are 
shorter  ones  joining  the  capital  to  such  important  cities  as 
Greensburg,  Connersville,  Newcastle,  Portland,  Wabash,  Lo- 
gansport,  Lafayette,  Crawfordsville,  and  Martinsville. 
These  spokes  have  been  connected  by  lines  running  between 
Crawfordsville  and  Lebanon,  Frankfort  and  Bluffton  thru 
Kokomo  and  Marion,  Lafayette  and  Fort  Wayne  thru 
Delphi,  Logansport,  Peru,  Wabash,  and  Huntingtpji,  and 
Tipton  and  Alexandria.  These  and  other  routes  make  con- 
siderable interurban  sub-centers  at  Muncie,  Bluffton,  Fort 
Wayne,  Anderson,  Marion,  Kokomo,  Peru,  Logansport, 
Terre  Haute,  and  Lebanon.  In  short,  a  map  of  the  inter- 
urban lines  in  Indiana  shows  that  south  of  the  National 
Road  which  is  paralleled  by  a  line,  there  are  four  or  five 
lines  radiating  from  Indianapolis,  but  entirely  disconnected, 
while  north  of  that  road  there  are  six  lines  which  are  for 
the  most  part  connected  by  two  circumference  lines,  one  run- 
ning about  fifty  miles  and  the  other  about  seventy  miles 
from  the  center  of  the  circle.  There  is  an  independent  nu- 
cleus at  Evansville  from  which  lines  emanate  to  Mt.  Vernon, 
Princeton,  Boonville,  and  Rockport.  Finally,  there  is  the 
line  running  from  Lagrange  to  Chicago,  paralleled  from 
South  Bend  on  west.  It  seems  not  beyond  the  facts  to  be- 
lieve that  Indiana  is  better  served  by  electric  interurban 
railways  than  any  other  state  in  the  Union  or  in  the  world. 

The  secret  of  the  pre-eminence  of  Indianapolis  as  the 
country's  greatest  interurban  center  is  not  altogether  in- 
explicable. In  the  first  place,  the  capital  is  located  at  the 


80  INDIANA 

approximate  center  of  the  state  and  is  in  a  strategic  po- 
sition to  be  the  distributing  point  for  most  of  the  smaller 
industrial  cities  and  towns,  and  for  the  rural  communities, 
except  those  on  Lake  Michigan  and  on  the  Ohio  River.  This 
situation  had  already  made  it  an  important  railway  center 
before  the  invention  of  the  interurban.  Second,  the  topo- 
graphy of  the  state  is  such  that  railway  building  is  a  com- 
paratively simple  problem.  Third,  the  system  has  been  de- 
veloped by  men  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  Charles  L. 
Henry,  Joseph  I.  Irwin,  Hugh  J.  McGowan,  and  others  who 
have  not  only  appreciated  the  possibilities  of  traffic  develop- 
ment, but  who  have  also  contrived  to  construct  the  greatest 
electric  terminal  building  in  the  country  with  all  that  that 
implies  of  cooperation  with  the  street  railways,  and  conces- 
sions from  the  state  and  city  government.  Finally,  the  cul- 
ture of  Indiana  is  in  a  peculiar  way  centered  in  its  capital, 
which  is  a  very  attractive  spot  for  the  citizens  from  every 
district  on  account  of  its  commercial,  social,  intellectual, 
and  aesthetic  opportunities. 

As  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  electric  interurban 
railway  are  largely  the  basis  of  its  contribution  to  modern 
culture,  it  may  be  well  to  note  the  most  important  of  these 
traits.  E.  D.  Durand,  former  Director  of  the  Census,  and 
now  a  professor  in  Minnesota  University,  has  defined  the  in- 
terurban as  a  railway  having  less  than  half  of  its  track 
within  municipal  limits.  If  such  a  road  has  a  length  of 
not  less  than  fifteen  miles  and  a  maximum  speed  of  at 
least  twenty  miles  an  hour  and  lies  two-thirds  without  cor- 
porate limits  it  can  be  designated  a  'fast  long  interurban/ 
Since  the  electric  interurban  produces  its  power  on  a  large 
scale  at  a  central  plant,  it  is  very  nearly  as  cheap  to  operate 
cars  separately  as  in  trains.  So  it  follows  that  in  the  middle 
west  cars  usually  run  hourly,  locals  alternating  with  ex- 
presses, and  the  service  is  much  more  convenient  than  that 
of  the  steam  road  which  finds  economy  in  large  engines 
pulling  many  coaches,  and  in  running  few  trains  a  day. 
In  the  second  place,  the  use  of  a  single  car  with  a  specially 
adapted  motor  makes  it  possible  to  accelerate  rapidly  and 
thus  to  combine  high  speed  with  frequent  stops,  another 
factor  which  increases  convenience.  Third,  the  electric  in- 
terurban runs  on  the  streets  of  the  cities  thru  which  it 
passes.  This  makes  for  economy  of  tracks  which  can  often 


TRANSPORTATION  81 

be  shared  with  a  city  street  railway  company,  it  permits  the 
leaving  of  passengers  at  a  terminal  more  accessible  to  the 
business  center  than  the  ordinary  railway  station,  and  it 
allows  passengers  to  be  picked  up  or  dropped  at  many  con- 
venient points  along  the  way  but  it  does  prohibit  speed  while 
within  the  corporate  limits.  The  first  interurban  railways 
made  the  mistake  of  placing  their  tracks  upon  public  high- 
ways, thinking  thereby  to  save  expense  in  building  the  road- 
bed. It  has  since  been  discovered  that  a  private  right  of 
way  is  far  better  because  it  often  shortens  the  distance, 
avoids  dangerous  curves  and  disadvantageous  grades,  and 
allows  extra  speed ;  the  cost  of  the  purchase  of  land  is  some- 
what counterbalanced  by  the  decreased  tax  for  highway 
maintenance  and  by  the  lessened  liability  to  accidents. 
Fourth,  the  light  electric  car  is  better  adapted  to  climbing 
grades  than  the  heavy  steam  train,  and,  consequently,  the 
interurbans  can  reach  places  commercially  inaccessible  to 
the  steam  roads.  Moreover,  this  fact  makes  it  possible  for 
the  interurban  to  take  more  direct  routes  between  towns 
than  the  steam  railways.  Fifth,  the  electric  cars  are  free 
from  smoke  and  so  more  pleasant  to  travelers,  especially 
during  the  summer  when  windows  are  open  wide.  The  sixth 
characteristic  is  a  result  of  the  others :  the  electric  interur- 
ban can  carry  passengers  for  short  distances  more  cheaply 
than  can  the  steam  railway. 

As  a  consequence  of  these  peculiarities,  the  electric  in- 
terurban has  found  that  its  business  has  been  largely  the 
carrying  of  passengers,  and  more  especially  of  passengers 
who  desire  to  ride  less  than  fifty  miles ;  for  beyond  that  limit 
the  superior  comfort  and  speed  of  the  steam  railway  coaches 
cannot  usually  be  overcome.  Yet,  even  for  such  long  trips 
as  those  from  Indianapolis  to  Richmond  and  Terre  Haute, 
the  convenience  of  the  interurban  schedule  wins  many  pas- 
sengers, and  there  are  actually  men  who  ride  to  business  in 
the  capital  city  every  day  from  points  forty  miles  distant. 
It  is  possible  that  the  future  will  see  a  considerable  increase 
of  this  commutation  traffic,  which  is  even  now  large.  One 
part  of  this  commutation  traffic  is  composed  of  school  child- 
ren who  find  the  interurban  a  key  to  better  high  school  fa- 
cilities. The  possibility  of  commuting  has  permitted  many 
people  who  work  in  the  cities  to  live  in  the  suburbs,  and  has 
resulted  in  building  up  these  smaller  towns  and  in  increasing 
the  land  values.  In  fact  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  sell- 


82  INDIANA 

ing  value  of  real  estate  all  along  the  line  of  every  interurban 
in  the  commonwealth  has  been  increased.  Farm  land  back 
for  two  or  three  miles  often  appreciates  from  fifteen  to  twen- 
ty dollars  an  acre.  This  is  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first 
place,  if  there  is  an  accidental  or  imperative  need  for  some 
farm  supplies,  it  is  possible  to  telephone  to  the  city  and  to 
have  the  materials  arrive  on  the  next  car.  Second,  the  farm 
is  more  accessible ;  a  trip  to  the  neighboring  small  town  or  to 
a  large  city  can  easily  be  made  without  the  trouble  and  loss 
of  time  in  driving,  and  the  pleasure  and  shopping  facilities  of 
the  city  are  available.  Indeed,  the  traffic  for  shopping  and 
pleasure  in  the  cities  constitutes  a  large  part  of  the  passen- 
ger patronage  of  the  interurbans.  The  fact  that  cars  stop 
at  every  crossroad  makes  such  a  trip  feasible  for  many  per- 
sons who  could  not  easily  reach  the  station  of  a  steam  rail- 
road. 

This  shopping  traffic  has  been  very  profitable  to  the 
greater  municipalities.  Altho  it  is  impossible  to  say  just 
how  largely  the  interurban  has  contributed  to  the  growth  of 
business  in  cities  like  Indianapolis,  it  has  certainly  been  an 
important  factor.  Storekeepers  in  the  smaller  towns  have 
observed  this,  and  have  at  times  bitterly  inveighed  against 
the  new  and  popular  form  of  transportation.  It  is  doubtful, 
however,  whether  the  interurban  has  not  helped  the  small 
city  more  than  it  has  injured  such  a  municipality,  for  it  has 
permitted  the  farmer  to  live  in  town  and  to  commute  to  his 
farm,  it  has  allowed  the  merchant  to  conduct  his  business  on 
a  smaller  stock  in  the  knowledge  that  he  can  telephone  an 
order  to  a  jobber  and  supply  any  demand  in  a  very  few  hours, 
and  finally,  it  has  enabled  people  to  find  endurable  the  life  in 
the  small  place  which  would  otherwise  be  unbearable.  An- 
other factor  is  often  forgotten;  in  these  days  of  increasing 
variety  of  wants,  it  is  impossible  for  a  store  in  the  small 
town  to  keep  on  hand  an  adequate  stock.  People  absolutely 
demand  the  privilege  of  choosing  from  large  assortments. 
It  therefore  seems  probable  that  the  interurban  has  been  in- 
strumental in  turning  to  the  large  city  store,  where  goods  can 
actually  be  seen,  the  patronage  that  would  naturally  drift 
from  the  small  town  shop  to  the  great  mail  order  house.  In 
the  last  analysis,  however,  if  the  interurban  has  injured  the 
merchant  in  the  small  town  by  giving  his  quandam  custo- 
mers the  opportunity  of  buying  at  better  advantage,  the 


TRANSPORTATION  83 

customer  whose  welfare  is  the  merchant's  sole  excuse  for 
existence,  has  gained,  and  good  has  been  accomplished. 

The  interurbans  have  imitated  the  steam  railways  in 
the  attempt  to  stimulate  excursion  traffic  by  offering  very 
low  rates  for  limited  return  tickets  to  various  points  within 
and  without  Indiana.  For  instance,  special  Sunday  rates 
have  sometimes  been  granted,  and  trips  have  been  planned  to 
points  in  Ohio,  in  Kentucky,  or  to  Niagara  Falls.  Just  how 
much  the  passenger  business  of  the  electric  lines  has  injured 
the  steam  roads  is  difficult  to  say.  Some  well  informed  men 
advance  the  theory  that  the  interurban  stimulates  the  desire 
for  travel,  and  that  the  steam  railways  profit  by  an  increase 
in  long  distance  traveling,  and  by  the  action  of  the  electrics 
as  feeders.  This  theory  is  bolstered  up  by  the  fact  that  the 
average  length  of  a  passenger  ride  on  the  steam  roads  is  in- 
creasing. It  is,  however,  certain  that  the  interurbans  have 
won  much  of  the  short  distance  traffic  from  the  steam  lines 
which  they  parallel,  and  this  in  itself  is  sufficient  to  account 
for  some  increase  in  the  average  length  of  trips.  If  the  in- 
terurbans have  helped  the  steam  roads  at  all  it  has  not  been 
thru  the  passenger  department,  save  in  exceptional  in- 
stances, but  thru  a  stimulation  of  freight  business  re- 
sulting from  a  raised  standard  of  living  in  the  small  com- 
munities. 

One  of  the  striking  peculiarities  of  the  passenger  busi- 
ness of  the  interurban  is  the  fact  that  it  has  fairly  definite 
limits.  Within  a  year  after  an  electric  line  has  been  com- 
pleted, the  passenger  use  of  its  facilities  is  ordinarily  at  its 
maximum  except  for  the  gradual  growth  with  the  increase  of 
population.  This  phenomenon  has  been  one  of  the  unex- 
pected factors  that  have  disappointed  the  owners  of  inter- 
urbans. 

The  competition  with  the  steam  roads  in  transporting 
passengers  made  it  necessary  for  the  interurbans  to  carry 
the  baggage  of  their  patrons.  This  resulted  in  the  fitting 
up  of  baggage  compartments,  which  were  seldom  full ;  so  it 
was  possible  to  give  some  room  to  express  companies  which 
now  operate  over  the  lines  of  the  interurbans.  The  majority 
of  the  commodities  carried  on  these  lines,  however,  are  tech- 
nically small  package  freight,  merchandise  received  at  one 
station  and  delivered  at  another  depot.  Altho  some  interur- 
ban lines  have  succeeded  in  building  up  a  large  freight  busi- 
ness, the  field  has  been  quite  limited.  In  the  first  place,  the 


84  INDIANA 

interurbans  have  had  difficulty  in  arranging  with  the  steam 
roads  for  the  interchange  of  traffic.  Again,  the  interurbans 
are  not  extensive  enough  to  accept  freight  for  delivery  at 
any  great  distance  if  they  have  to  depend  upon  their  own 
equipment.  Third,  the  steam  roads  have  so  long  a  start, 
men  are  so  in  the  habit  of  shipping  their  produce  by  them, 
that  it  is  hard  for  the  interurbans  to  secure  a  large  place  in 
this  field.  Finally,  the  rates  on  the  steam  roads  can  be  made 
so  low  on  carload  shipments  that  it  is  impossible  for  the 
electric  lines  to  underbid  them,  most  of  the  plants  that  ship 
by  the  carload  having  been  built  with  spurs  for  the  steam 
railroad  connection.  Doubtless  time  will  witness  the  over- 
coming of  these  difficulties  in  some  measure,  but  as  yet  the 
way  is  not  clear  for  the  gaining  of  much  more  than  the  small 
package  business  for  prompt  delivery.  One  field  that  the 
interurbans  running  into  Indianapolis  have  developed  from 
the  beginning  is  the  carriage  of  milk.  Thousands  of  gallons 
are  daily  brought  into  the  city  for  distribution.  This  has 
not  only  improved  the  milk  supply,  but  it  has  been  of  large 
benefit  to  the  farmers  along  the  routes  so  served. 

The  passenger  and  freight  business  has  been  supple- 
mented by  other  services  rendered  by  the  interurban  roads. 
The  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  line,  for  example,  is  supply- 
ing current  for  light  and  power  in  ten  towns  on  or  near  its 
route.  This  service  can  be  rendered  at  less  cost  than  would 
be  necessitated  by  the  installation  of  a  local  plant,  and  is  a 
real  benefit  to  the  town  as  well  as  a  profitable  enterprise  for 
the  company.  So  the  coming  of  the  interurban  has  been  of 
immense  importance  to  Indiana.  It  has  meant  in  some  cases 
the  improvement  of  municipal  public  utilities ;  it  has  taught 
people  to  travel  more  frequently,  and  thus  to  broaden  their 
horizons;  it  has  brought  the  stores  and  pleasures  of  the 
large  city  within  reach  of  the  country;  it  has  enabled  the 
farmer  to  save  time  in  his  trips  to  town  and  in  replacing 
broken  machine  parts  or  in  securing  needed  supplies ;  it  has 
built  up  the  business  of  the  large  municipalities,  and  has 
made  it  possible  for  folks  to  live  in  the  suburbs,  altho  em- 
ployed in  the  cities ;  it  has  created  new  business,  exemplified 
in  the  supplying  of  milk  to  Indianapolis;  at  the  expense  of 
some  few  storekeepers,  it  has  made  life  in  the  small  town 
and  on  the  farm  more  worth  while ;  it  has  aided  in  the  prompt 
dissemination  of  information  thru  the  distribution  of 
newspapers  direct  from  the  cars ;  and  it  has  raised  real  estate 


TRANSPORTATION  85 

values  in  town  and  country.     In  short,  unmeasurable  as  are 
the  benefits  of  the  interurban,  they  have  been  great. 

Altho  the  interurbans  are  popular  and  important,  they 
are  not,  as  a  whole,  considered  financially  successful.  From 
the  standpoint  of  the  traveling  public,  their  rates  are  reason- 
able enough,  but  they  are  not  sufficiently  remunerative  to 
suit  the  stockholders.  Of  the  thirty-six  companies  owning 
electric  railways  in  Indiana  in  the  year  ending  30  April,  1914, 
but  nine  paid  any  dividends  on  either  common  or  preferred 
stock.  The  combined  net  income  of  the  twenty  companies 
that  more  than  made  expenses  was  $1,667,944.42  and  the  net 
loss  of  the  other  eight  aggregated  $269,460.38.  The  reason 
for  this  poor  financial  showing  is  partly  known.  In  the  first 
place,  the  roads  are  overcapitalized.  On  the  thirtieth  of 
June  1913,  there  were  outstanding  stocks  with  a  par  value 
of  $109,217,285.67  and  bonds  for  $93,010,047.34.  The  cost 
of  constructing  these  roads  has  been  variously  estimated, 
but  it  would  probably  average  not  over  forty  thousand  dollars 
per  mile  of  line  completely  equipped.  At  this  maximum 
cost  they  could  certainly  be  replaced  for  less  than  $110,000,- 
000 ;  the  Public  Service  Commission  believes  that  they  could 
be  duplicated  for  the  amount  of  their  bonded  indebtedness. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  total  outstanding  capital  is  in  par  value 
about  twice  the  actual  cost  of  the  roads.  The  Public  Service 
Commission  has  compiled  data  from  the  reports  of  these 
companies  that  show  for  the  same  year  total  revenues  of 
$15,090,417.40  and  total  operating  expenses,  including  taxes, 
of  $8,972,020.31.  The  difference  is  $6,118,397.09,  which  is 
enough  to  pay  five  per  cent  on  the  bonds,  approximately 
$4,651,000,  and  over  eight  and  a  half  per  cent  on  $17,000,000, 
the  difference  between  the  maximum  possible  cost  and  the 
par  value  of  the  bonds.  Or,  from  another  standpoint,  this 
$6,118,000  is  over  five  and  six-tenths  per  cent  on  $110,000,- 
000.  So  analysis  proves  that,  on  the  whole,  the  interurbans 
are  paying  a  fair  rate  of  interest  on  the  actual  money  in- 
vested, but  they  are  not  sufficiently  profitable  to  give  such 
returns  on  the  water  in  stock  as  the  owners  most  ardently 
desire.  It  is  probably  true  that  the  rises  in  the  wages  of  the 
employees,  the  constantly  increasing  necessity  of  rendering 
high  class  service,  the  ever  higher  cost  of  supplies,  and  the 
demands  of  the  people  for  detailed  reports  to  the  Public 
Service  Commission  do  account  for  the  fact  that  the  expected 
dividends  cannot  be  earned.  There  are  doubtless  other 


86  INDIANA 

minor  elements,  such  as  the  increased  use  of  automobiles  and 
the  cutting  down  of  travel  due  to  the  dull  times  that  came 
with  the  great  European  war.  The  financial  situation  may 
be  summarized  in  the  statement  that  altho  the  interur- 
bans  are  earning  fair  returns  on  the  actual  investment,  the 
profits  are  hardly  large  enough  to  tempt  capital  into  further 
expansion  of  the  system. 

Summary. 

Altho  the  rivers  were  for  a  long  time  important  means 
of  communication  in  Indiana,  and  in  fact  the  only  highways 
of  trade,  and  altho  the  state  undertook  an  extensive  system 
of  canals  which  actually  did  contribute  materially  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  commonwealth,  at  present  water  communi- 
cation is  confined  to  Lake  Michigan  and  a  small  use  of  the 
Ohio  River.  The  need  for  communication  led  to  the  attempt 
of  the  state  to  build  so  many  roads  at  the  same  time  that  the 
task  was  impossible,  and  what  had  not  been  shabbily  fin- 
ished had  to  be  abandoned.  Some  of  the  early  roads,  how- 
ever, were  of  great  importance  to  the  commercial  life  of  the 
state.  The  present  system  of  road  supervision  has  resulted 
in  a  large  expansion  of  gravel  roads,  and  it  appears  to  be  to 
the  interest  of  the  commonwealth  to  improve  these  highways 
in  order  to  lessen  the  cost  of  farm  hauling  and  to  improve 
social  conditions ;  but  the  chances  of  skimping  work  by  con- 
tractors must  be  minimized.  Afe  capital  was  for  a  long  time 
slow  to  venture  into  the  field  of  railway  building,  the  state 
constructed  the  first  steam  road.  From  the  time  when  the 
commonwealth  proved  the  utility  of  the  new  invention,  cor- 
porations began  creating  a  system  that  now  gives  Indiana 
excellent  service.  A  large  part  of  the  excellence  of  the 
railway  facilities  in  Indiana  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  main 
routes  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  to  Chicago  and  St.  Louis 
pass  thru  the  state.  The  development  of  the  interurban 
railway  has  been  spontaneous  in  Indiana,  and  has  made 
plausible  the  claim  that  the  state  has  the  best  system  of 
inter-city  electric  communication  in  the  world.  This  modern 
agent  of  transportation  has  done  a  great  deal  to  stimulate 
travel,  and  to  aid  the  progress  of  business  and  culture. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Labor 


In  the  United  States  it  is  a  highly  respectable  and 
proper  thing  to  work.  Ninety-six  and  seven-tenths  per  cent 
of  the  males  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  forty-four 
professed,  at  the  last  census,  to  be  "engaged  in  gainful  occu- 
pation." Indiana  is  no  exception ;  indeed,  it  is  a  remarkable 
fact  that  exactly  the  same  proportion  of  males  of  these 
years  of  maximum  productive  power  are  in  gainful  pursuits 
in  Indiana,  in  the  East  North  Central  States  as  a  group,  and 
in  the  United  States  as  a  whole.  There  are,  however,  some 
respects  in  which  Indiana  varies  from  the  other  common- 
wealths in  her  section.  An  inspection  of  the  following  fig- 
ures will  show  some  of  these  striking  points  of  difference: 

Proportion  of  Total  Population  Engaged  in  Gainful  Occupa- 
tions in  1910  By  Age  and  Sex. 


AGE 

INDIANA 

EAST  NORTH  CENTRAL 
STATES 

UNITED  STATES 

Males 

Females 

Males 

Females 

Hales 

Females 

10  years  to  13  years  _     _     

7.9 
37.8 
77.2 
96.7 
83.0 
79.5 

0.8 
10.3 
27.3 
17.5 
10.4 
14.8 

4.7 
29.6 
77.7 
96.7 
83.0 
79.4 

0.6 
11.6 
38.1 
21.1 
11.0 
18.2 

16.6 
41.4 
79.2 
96.7 
85.9 
81.3 

8.0 
19.8 
39.9 
26.3 
15.7 
23.4 

14  years  to  15  years  _ 

16  years  to  20  years  

21  years  to  44  years  

45  years  and  over  

All  ages  over  9  _  

In  the  first  place,  this  table  shows  a  great  deal  less 
child  labor  proportionately  in  Indiana  than  in  the  United 
States  as  a  whole ;  yet  there  was  a  considerably  larger  pro- 
portion of  boys  under  sixteen  years  of  age  employed  in  In- 
diana than  in  the  East  North  Central  States.  This  was 
true  despite  the  long  existence  of  a  law  prohibiting  the  labor 
of  children  under  fourteen  in  manufacturing,  mining,  stores, 
laundries,  bakeries,  and  some  other  forms  of  business,  and 
providing  that  no  child  under  sixteen  might  work  in  these 
lines  unless  he  were  physically  fit  and  could  read  and  write. 


88 


INDIANA 


In  the  second  place,  Indiana  was  typical  in  that  the  age  per- 
iod at  which  women  entered  most  largely  into  industry  was 
between  the  sixteenth  and  twenty-first  birthdays.  How- 
ever, a  smaller  per  cent  of  the  women  of  every  stage  of 
maturity  beyond  thirteen  years  were  employed  in  the 
Hoosier  commonwealth  than  in  the  section  or  in  the  country. 
This  variation  is  not  easily  explained.  Perhaps  it  is  partly 
attributable  to  the  fact  that  the  mining  regions  offer  little 
employment  to  women  and  that  many  women  and  girls 
whose  homes  are  on  the  farms  are  not  classed  among  the 
wage  earners.  That  Indiana  is  more  closely  devoted  to  ag- 
riculture than  the  surrounding  states  appears  in  the  table 
which  follows.  It  would  be  hard  for  the  farmer's  wife  to 
find  any  wage  earning  occupation  even  if  her  arduous  duties 
gave  her  time  to  leave  home  to  earn  money. 


BRANCH  OF  INDUSTRY 

INDIANA 

EAST  NORTH 
CENTRAL 
STATES 

UNITED 
STATES 

NUMBERS 

PerCent 

PER  CENT. 

PER  CENT 

i 

3 

1 

! 

i 

j 

1 

i 

Agriculture,  Forestry,  Animal  Hus- 
bandry 

335,609 
24,293 

271,315 
71,810 
87,043 
10,028 
28,855 
28,355 
23,671 

880.979 

8,845 
7 

39,087 
3.901 
12,633 
340 
19.922 
56,097 
14,899 

155,731 

38.1 
2.8 

30.8 
8.2 
9.9 
1.1 
3.3 
3.2 
2.7 

5.7 

30.1 
3.2 

34.6 
8.8 
11.0 
1.3 
3.2 
3.9 
4.1 

4.7 

26.6 
2.2 
8.9 
0.2 
12.3 
33.8 
11.3 

36.1 
3.2 

29.4 
8.4 
10.5 
1.5 
3.1 
4.1 
3.8 

22.4 

22.5 
1.3 
5.8 
0.2 
9.1 
31.3 
7.3 

Extraction  of  Minerals 

Manufacturing  and  Mechanical  Pur- 
suits    

25.1 
2.5 
8.1 
0.2 
12.8 
36.0 
9.6 

Transportation  __ 

Trade-  

Public  Service  (except  Teaching)  
Professional  Service 

Domestic  and  Personal  Service  

Clerical  Occupations  __           

Totals  

This  table  is  interesting  because  of  what  it  shows  of 
the  development  of  Indiana.  The  one  striking  fact  is  the 
normality  of  the  Hoosier  working  force.  The  United  States 
may  be  considered  a  self-sufficient  nation.  Her  foreign 
trade  is  very  small  compared  to  the  great  volume  of  her 
industry.  Since,  therefore,  the  men  in  Indiana  and  in  the 
nation  are  distributed  among  the  various  occupation  groups 
in  approximately  the  same  proportions,  it  is  entirely  safe 
to  say  that  the  commonwealth  has  attained  to  a  development 
very  closely  adapted  to  this  stage  in  the  world's  industrial 
history.  Were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  one-third  of  the 
employed  negro  women  of  the  South  are  farm  laborers,  the 
distribution  of  women  among  the  great  groups  of  industries 


LABOR 


89 


in  Indiana  would  be  nearly  as  typical  as  that  of  the  men. 
Another  particularly  interesting  thing  to  note  in  this  table 
is  that  a  smaller  proportion  of  the  men  are  engaged  in  trade 
and  transportation  in  Indiana  than  in  the  East  North  Cen- 
tral States,  or  in  the  United  States.  This  leaves  a  larger 
proportion  for  the  direct  creation  of  goods.  While  it  is  un- 
deniable that  the  men  employed  in  trade  and  transportation 
are  as  productive  in  their  labor  as  are  any  other  men,  it  is 
yet  highly  desirable  to  minimize  efforts  spent  in  exchange 
in  order  that  less  of  productive  processes  should  consist  of 
carrying  things  from  place  to  place,  and  more  in  changing 
the  shapes  and  combinations  of  materials.  This  statement 
should  not  be  misconstrued.  It  is  truly  wonderful  for  a 
state  to  have  reached  the  point  where  less  than  seventy-two 
per  cent  of  its  men  are  necessary  to  farm,  mine,  and  manu- 
facture, while  eighteen  per  cent  are  usefully  employed  car- 
rying good  things  from  the  place  where  they  are  put  to- 
gether to  the  place  where  they  are  to  satisfy  the  needs  of 
other  men.  Of  course,  Indiana  is  a  vital  element  in  the 
exchanges  of  the  nation,  but  in  the  main,  the  people  em- 
ployed in  transportation  in  the  state  are  carrying  commod- 
ities to  or  from  Hoosiers. 

Per  Cents  of  Persons  Gainfully  Employed  in  Creation  and 

Exchange. 


INDIANA 

EAST  NORTH 
CENTRAL  STATES 

UNITED  STATES 

Males 

Females 

Males 

Females 

Males 

Females 

Agriculture,  forestry,  animal  hus- 
bandry, extraction  of  minerals, 
manufacturing,  and   mechan- 
ical pursuits  

71.7 

30.8 

67.9 

31.3 

68.7 

44.9 

Trade  and  Transportation     

18.1 

10.6 

19.8 

11.1 

18.9 

7.1 

Women  Wage  Earners. 

There  has  recently  been  an  investigation  that  pene- 
trated directly  into  the  situation  of  the  Indiana  laborer. 
The  1913  General  Assembly  provided  for  a  non-salaried 
Commission  of  five  members  to  investigate  women's  hours 
for  working,  and  their  wages,  and  voted  two  thousand  dol- 
lars to  finance  this  stupendous  task.  As  the  funds  were 
absolutely  inadequate  to  any  accomplishment,  the  commis- 


90  INDIANA 

sion  wisely  requested  the  cooperation  of  the  Federal  De- 
partment of  Labor,  and  confined  its  own  activities  to  holding 
hearings  in  ten  cities  and  to  sending  a  questionnaire  to  em- 
ployers of  labor  in  thirty-eight  different  industries.  Altho 
Mrs.  Bertha  J.  Lockwood  literally  worked  herself  to  death 
on  this  commission's  task  the  Federal  report  is  the  only 
result  of  the  work  that  is  worth  attention.  The  Commis- 
sion itself  noted  a  "general  and  increasing  tendency  upon 
the  part  of  nearly  all  Indiana  employers  towards  the  re- 
duction of  hours  and  the  improvement  of  work  conditions 
as  to  sanitation,  ventilation,  safety,  etc.,  a  disposition  which 
is  undoubtedly  born  of  a  realization  that  such  things  are 
truly  economical,  promote  efficiency  of  the  workers,  and 
insure  a  more  permanent  and  contented  working  force. 
*  *  *  This  Commission  has  not  found  any  prevailing  pres- 
sing conditions  that  would  seem  to  justify  any  radical  legis- 
lation on  the  subject."  Nevertheless,  the  Commission  felt 
that  there  is  a  "thotless  and  unprincipled  minority"  of 
employers  who  actually  do  need  the  compulsion  of  further 
laws.  Therefore  it  was  recommended  that  the  General  As- 
sembly provide  by  more  stringent  statutes  for  the  personal 
safety  of  employees  from  accidental  injuries  and  from  oc- 
cupational diseases;  for  adequate  toilet  conveniences,  and 
"such  supervision  as  will  insure  the  physical  relaxation  and 
welfare  of  women  workers;"  and  for  a  restriction  of  wom- 
en's work  hours  to  fifty-four  a  week  in  mercantile  estab- 
lishments, and  fifty-eight  in  factories,  with  a  possibility  of 
overtime  in  certain  industries  which,  like  canning,  have  a 
short  rush  season.  None  of  these  proposals  has  as  yet  been 
adopted.  The  fact  that  they  were  embodied  in  the  report 
shows,  however,  that  there  actually  do  exist  in  the  state 
certain  work  conditions  that  are  detrimental  to  the  highest 
well-being  of  the  women  wage  earners. 

The  Federal  report  is  much  more  satisfying,  for  with 
the  thoroness  that  characterizes  all  of  its  investigations 
the  United  States  Department  of  Labor  has  tabulated  a 
large  number  of  important  statistics.  Personal  interviews 
with  employees  in  stores  and  garment  factories,  and  inspec- 
tions of  the  pay  rolls  in  Indianapolis,  Evansville,  Fort 
Wayne,  Hammond,  Lafayette,  Muncie,  New  Albany,  Rich- 
mond, South  Bend,  and  Terre  Haute  were  the  basis  of  all 
conclusions.  In  normal  times  the  hours  of  a  little  over  two- 
fifths  of  the  women  employed  in  the  stores  were  more  than 


LABOR  91 

forty-eight  but  fewer  than  fifty-five  per  week ;  nearly  fifty- 
five  per  cent  worked  fifty-five  but  fewer  than  sixty  hours. 
During  the  Christmas  rush  nine-tenths  labored  at  least  sixty 
hours  per  week  and  two-thirds  sixty-five  hours  or  more. 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  store 
women  in  1914  had  to  work  at  least  nine  hours  a  day.  To 
call  the  Christmas  rush  season  "barbarous"  is  to  express 
the  thot  mildly.  The  women  working  in  the  garment 
trades  were,  on  the  whole,  a  little  better  off  as  far  as  hours 
were  concerned,  working  an  average  of  about  forty-eight 
hours  per  week,  altho  in  this  industry  a  full  time  week  was 
about  fifty-three  hours. 

Over  seven-eighths  of  the  garment  workers,  and  nearly 
seven-tenths  of  the  women  employed  in  stores  were  idle  at 
least  part  of  the  year.  One-sixth  of  the  unemployment 
among  the  store  girls  was  due  to  voluntary  vacation  as  was 
also  one-ninth  among  the  garment  makers.  The  rest  of 
this  unemployment,  amounting  to  over  an  eighth  of  the  en- 
tire working  time  of  the  mercantile  employees,  and  to  nearly 
a  sixth  of  the  aggregate  working  time  of  the  garment 
workers  was  involuntary.  The  figures  show,  then,  that 
there  is  a  large  fraction  of  the  possible  working  time  of  the 
women  of  Indiana  wasted.  The  problem  of  unemployment 
is  acute  in  the  Hoosier  cities. 

Two  other  interesting  facts  were  developed.  The  girls 
who  worked  in  the  stores  invariably  reported  that  the  legal- 
ly required  number  of  seats  were  provided.  "It  should  be 
said,  however,  that  there  was  frequent  complaint  among 
the  women,  that  these  seats  could  not  be  used,  even  in 
'slack  minutes'  without  incurring  the  displeasure  of  the 
management."  If  these  girls  have  to  maintain  the  standing 
position  which,  when  held  all  day  long,  is  so  conducive  to 
varicose  veins  and  to  over-fatigue,  the  garment  workers 
also  have  their  trouble,  for  most  of  them  sit  at  power  driven 
machines,  which  require  slight  but  constant  bending  of  the 
operatives'  backs. 

Perhaps  more  important  than  any  of  the  other  matters 
is  remuneration.  The  average  age  of  the  women  in  the 
mercantile  establishments  was  about  twenty-four  years,  and 
their  mean  weekly  wages  $7.82;  one-half  earned  less  than 
$6.78.  The  Indiana  Commission's  questionnaire  elicited  re- 
plies from  the  employers  of  nearly  seven  thousand  women 
in  thirty-three  other  industries.  The  average  weekly  wage 


92  INDIANA 

of  these  women  was  $7.19.  Since  it  is  almost  invariably 
the  fact  that  more  than  one-half  of  a  given  group  of  wage 
earners  receive  less  than  the  average  wage,  it  is  entirely 
safe  to  say  that  over  one-half  of  the  women  employed  in  the 
stores  and  factories  of  Indiana  are  not  earning  as  much  as 
$7.25  per  week.  There  have  been  of  late  a  number  of  state 
commissions  investigating  the  cost  of  living.  The  lowest 
that  a  minimum  wage  has  been  set  in  any  state  appears  to 
be  $7.50,  and  the  weekly  income  usually  deemed  necessary 
to  provide  the  requisites  of  an  efficient  existence  is  eight  or 
nine  dollars.  Of  course  these  determinations  fit  conditions 
in  other  commonwealths,  yet  prices  in  Indiana  do  not  seem 
to  be  essentially  different  from  those  elsewhere  in  the  coun- 
try, and  it  is  within  the  bounds  of  reason  to  believe  that 
fully  half  the  employed  women  of  Indiana  earn  wages  in- 
sufficient to  support  them  adequately. 

Labor  Organization. 

Altho  there  is  little  reliable  information  concerning  the 
actual  living  conditions  of  the  laborers  in  Indiana,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  learn  something  of  what  they  are  doing  to  help  them- 
selves. Having  discovered  that  many  of  its  "friends"  are 
either  constitutionally  incapable  of  understanding  its  prob- 
lems, or  else  are  posing,  labor  has  for  some  time  adhered  to 
the  principle  that  it  must  work  out  its  own  salvation  with 
courage  and  determination. 

Except  in  the  case  of  a  number  of  precarious  English 
organizations  it  has  seemed  impossible  for  farm  hands  to 
conduct  successful  unions;  their  employment  is  too  irregu- 
lar, their  opportunities  for  intercourse  too  scant,  and  their 
ambition  to  become  owners  too  strong  to  permit  them  to 
develop  enthusiasm  for  organizations  that  look  to  improving 
their  lot  as  employees.  Men  in  the  public  service,  in  pro- 
fessional work,  in  clerical  occupations,  and  in  domestic  and 
personal  service  generally  find  organization  unnecessary  or 
distasteful,  or  they  themselves,  may  be  incompetent.  The 
great  opening  for  the  labor  unions  is,  therefore,  among  the 
persons  employed  in  the  extraction  of  minerals,  in  manu- 
facturing and  mechanical  pursuits,  and  in  transportation 
and  trade.  Of  course  every  other  group  presents  excep- 
tional occupations,  but  it  is  certain  that  these  four  are  most 
readily  susceptible  to  unionization.  In  Indiana  in  1910 
about  four  hundred  fifty  thousand  men  and  fifty-five  thou- 
sand women,  over  one-half  of  the  men  and  more  than  one- 


LABOR  93 

third  of  the  women  who  worked  for  gain  were  engaged  in 
these  occupations.  A  large  proportion  of  these  people  are 
members  of  labor  unions,  but  the  number  cannot  be  ac- 
curately stated.  There  are  at  present  locals  embracing  a 
membership  of  over  fifty  thousand  affiliated  with  the  Indi- 
ana State  Federation  of  Labor,  and  there  may  be  as  many 
more  individuals  connected  with  unaffiliated  unions.  At  a 
maximum,  then,  one-fifth  of  the  eligible  workers  are  in  the 
unions.  This  number  may  not  seem  large,  for  there  are 
vast  fields  which  for  some  reason  or  other  the  unions  can- 
not yet  occupy,  for  instance  the  employees  of  the  Illinois 
Steel  Company  at  Gary  are  uncombined;  but  on  the  whole 
labor  in  the  commonwealth  of  Indiana  is  pretty  extensively 
organized. 

The  "locals"  of  the  trade  unions  are  largely  of  two 
types ;  those  that  are  members  of  a  national  or  international 
body,  and  those  that  are  independent.  An  independent  local 
is  able  to  exercise  over  the  men  powers  unlimited  except  by 
law  and  by  its  own  members,  but  it  is  weak  in  that  it  has  to 
fight  its  battles  unaided.  The  affiliated  local  loses  much  of 
its  self-sufficiency,  for  it  cannot  strike  without  the  sanction 
of  the  national  or  international  officers  of  the  craft;  but  it 
also  gains  much,  for  it  can  summon  the  assistance  of  the 
general  officers  in  its  negotiations  with  employers,  and  if 
a  strike  is  ordered,  it  can  be  assured  that  no  other  men  of 
the  same  international  union  will  act  as  strike  breakers.  In 
addition,  the  affiliated  union  can  rely  upon  the  financial 
backing  of  its  "international,"  which  provides  strike  benefits. 
The  amalgamated  unions,  moreover,  sometimes  provide 
benefits  for  their  members  who  are  out  of  work  or  are  sick. 
Thus  the  national  bodies  have  developed,  in  some  cases,  an 
elaborate  system  of  insurance  that  extends  even  to  the  pro- 
tection of  life.  The  local  unions  have  another  function. 
They  maintain  headquarters  that  serve  as  club  rooms  and 
centers  of  social  life  for  the  members,  and,  as  clearing 
houses  of  information  about  available  jobs  and  unfair  em- 
ployers. Finally,  the  meetings  of  the  locals  really  do  afford 
the  members  training  in  parliamentary  law,  and  in  thinking, 
.for,  in  discussing  the  common  business,  a  man  who  wants 
to  carry  conviction  must  be  sane. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor  requires  the  locals 
of  affiliated  nationals  and  internationals  to  belong  to  what 
are  known  as  the  Central  Labor  Unions,  delegate  bodies 
representing  the  organizations  of  the  different  trades  in  a 


94  INDIANA 

given  city.  The  work  of  these  central  labor  unions,  which 
are  located  in  all  the  important  municipalities  of  Indiana  is 
to  secure  cooperation  between  all  the  workingmen  in  the 
given  city.  If  one  union  is  in  trouble  of  any  kind  the  ' 'Cen- 
tral" can  give  moral  support  which  is  of  great  value.  For 
instance,  when  the  street  railway  employees  in  Evansville 
struck,  the  Central  Labor  Union  effectively  prevented  labor- 
ing men  from  using  the  cars.  Thru  these  bodies  contribu- 
tions may  be  secured  to  aid  striking  unionists,  formal  or  in- 
formal boycotts  may  be  arranged,  sympathetic  strikes  may 
be  initiated,  and  employers  may  be  influenced.  There  is 
another  class  of  combination  in  the  city  that  may  be  illus- 
trated by  the  Building  Trades  Council,  which  aims  to  secure 
complete  cooperation  between  the  men  of  all  the  trades  that 
work  on  the  buildings. 

The  Indiana  State  Federation  of  Labor  was  founded  in 
Indianapolis  in  1885  by  delegates  from  the  Alpha  and  Arm- 
strong Assemblies  of  Knights  of  Labor,  a  Holders'  Union, 
Typographical  Union  No.  1,  and  Cigar  Makers'  Union  No. 
33.  It  is  the  oldest  state  federation  of  continuous  existence, 
and  has  served  as  a  model  for  some  of  the  later  combina- 
tions. Its  aim  and  function  is  set  forth  in  its  Platform  and 
Principles  in  this  way: 

"From  the  fact  that  local  trades  unions  and  labor  organiza- 
tions are  largely  hemmed  in  by  their  special  interests,  find- 
ing their  opportunity  for  work  outside  the  business  incident 
to  their  particular  callings,  it  is  important  and  necessary 
that  the  Indiana  State  Federation  of  Labor  should  seek  to 
mold  and  influence  public  opinion  on  economical  reform,  to 
lend  its  aid  in  the  carrying  forward  of  educational  work  and 
to  secure  legislative  enactments  tending  to  the  benefit  of 
labor.  To  the  end  that  all  labor  work  may  be  carried  forward 
effectively  and  systematically,  there  should  be  a  compact 
federation  of  labor  organizations  along  the  line  of  affiliated 
trades  and  the  cultivation  of  a  fraternal  feeling  among  all 
labor  organizations,  with  the  aid  of  a  general  federation  and 
cooperation.  The  Indiana  State  Federation  of  Labor  there- 
fore aims  to  secure  such  organization  of  labor  thruout  the 
state  as  will  aid  in  bringing  about  these  results." 

At  its  annual  convention  the  Federation  elects  an  Exe- 
cutive Committee  of  five  members  including  the  President 
and  Secretary-Treasurer.  This  Executive  Committee  is  al- 
so the  Legislative  Committee,  and  spends  most  of  its  energy 
during  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  trying  to  se- 


LABOR  95 

cure  the  enactment  of  laws  favorable  to  the  interests  of 
labor,  and  to  prevent  the  passage  of  detrimental  measures. 
Many  times  it  has  failed  to  accomplish  much  because  its  ef- 
forts have  been  dissipated  in  advocating  a  large  number  of 
bills,  and  yet  it  has  succeeded  remarkably  in  a  great  many 
of  its  undertakings.  This  committee,  however,  does  not 
confine  its  attention  absolutely  to  the  General  Assembly, 
but  assists  in  procuring  subscriptions  to  aid  striking  work- 
ers all  over  the  continent,  and  its  individual  members  fre- 
quently furnish  very  able  counsel  in  settling  labor  troubles. 
The  State  Federation  defines  its  position  by  passing 
resolutions  at  its  annual  convention.  These  resolutions 
may  in  general  be  classified  as  follows : 

1.  Resolutions  demanding  certain  legislation,  such  as  the 
minimum  wage,  old  age  insurance,  workmen's  compensa- 
tion, the  forbidding  of  the  importation  into  the  state  of  men 
for  police  duty,  restriction  of  the  working  hours  of  women 
and  children,  free  school  textbooks,  etc. 

2.  Resolutions  condemning  or  approving  the  work  of  state 
officers  or  commissions,  such  as  that  adopted  in  1914  de- 
claring the  work  of  the  state  commission  appointed  to  in- 
vestigate the  hours  and  wages  of  women  to  be  a  farce. 

3.  Resolutions  approving  the  work  of  the  officers  of  the 
State  Federation,  or  instructing  them  concerning  their  ac- 
tivities. 

4.  Resolutions  of  sympathy  with  strikers,  with  labor  peo- 
ple in  trouble  or  bereavement,  with  the  actions  of  labor 
bodies,  with  the  use  of  the  various  Union  Labels. 

5.  Resolutions  of  actual  legislative  force,  as  those  govern- 
ing the  membership  fees,  that  of  1914  making  the  "Lafay- 
ette Labor  News"  the  official  organ  of  the  Federation,  and 
that  making  it  necessary  for  every  delegate  to  wear  at  least 
three  articles  bearing  the  union  label. 

These  resolutions  are  important  as  an  aid  in  educating 
the  delegates  and  in  crystallizing  sentiment.  So  this  State 
Federation  is  a  powerful  factor  in  formulating  legislation, 
and  in  molding  public  opinion.  Altho  it  may  not  definitely 
endorse  any  political  party,  it  at  times  determines  what 
candidates  are  sent  to  the  Assembly  and  to  Congress.  Its 
weakness  lies  in  its  lack  of  funds.  It  would  seem  to  be  the 
body  best  adapted  to  organize  the  laborers  of  small  towns 
into  federal  unions  including  workers  at  all  the  trades,  but 
it  cannot  afford  to  support  a  man  to  do  the  work. 


96  INDIANA 

Labor  Troubles. 

Altho  he  frankly  recognizes  the  truth  that  "the  labor 
movement  is  a  rough  struggle,"  the  trade  unionist  does  not 
like  to  strike  except  as  a  last  resort.  Occasionally  strikes 
grow  out  of  absolutely  silly  misunderstandings,  and  yet,  on 
the  whole,  these  resorts  to  force  are  based  on  real  grievan- 
ces. For  over  a  decade  Indiana  had  a  State  Labor  Commis- 
sion of  two  men  who  were  under  obligation  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  settle  labor  disputes.  During  the  last  four  years 
of  its  existence,  1907,  1908,  1909,  and  1910,  this  Commission 
took  cognizance  of  fifty-four  strikes.  Doubtless  there  were 
many  strikes  that  did  not  come  to  its  attention,  but  cer- 
tainly all  of  the  larger  ones  did.  In  these  fifty-four  strikes 
fewer  than  fifty  thousand  men  were  involved.  Even  this 
figure  exaggerates  the  magnitude  of  the  troubles,  for  two  of 
the  strikes  which  were  of  very  brief  duration  were  con- 
ducted by  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America ;  one  of  them 
involved  ten  thousand  and  the  other  fifteen  thousand  men. 
A  third  strike  of  five  thousand  employees  of  the  Republic 
Iron  and  Steel  Company,  also  short,  was  fought  for  the  sake 
of  one  hundred  organized  foreign  employees  who  struck  for 
a  small  wage  advance.  Still  another  strike,  involving  seven- 
ty-eight hundred  men  most  of  whom  were  not  Hoosiers  at 
all,  was  called  in  the  summer  of  1908  by  the  employees  of 
the  Lake  Carriers'  Association,  a  combination  of  companies 
owning  the  steamers  on  the  Great  Lakes.  Of  four  large 
strikes  including  over  thirty-seven  thousand  men,  three 
were  brief  and  easily  settled,  and  the  fourth  touched  Indiana 
slightly,  compared  to  the  other  states,  New  York,  Ohio, 
Michigan,  and  Illinois.  Counting  in,  however,  the  partici- 
pants of  these  four  large  strikes,  four  years  saw  only  one- 
tenth  of  the  men  capable  of  organization  on  strike,  an  aver- 
age of  one-fortieth  per  year.  Twenty-six  of  these  fifty- 
four  strikes,  including  the  three  large  ones  that  affected  only 
Indiana,  were  concluded  in  two  weeks  time  or  less,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  others  lasted  in  the  acute  stage  but  a  few  days, 
altho  some  of  the  employers  held  out  longer  than  the  main 
body.  So  the  actual  loss  of  working  time  from  strikes  is 
comparatively  very  small. 

The  results  of  strikes  are  always  more  or  less  hard  to 
determine,  as  the  issues  frequently  become  so  involved  that 
a  statistical  statement  of  the  effects  is  impossible.  The  f ol- 


LABOR 


97 


lowing  figures,  however,  may  be  of  interest  as  showing  the 
kinds  of  demands  that  have  been  presented  by  the  trade 
unions  to  their  employers,  and  the  success  that  has  attended 
their  course: 

Results  of  Strikes  in  Indiana  in  the  Years  1907,  1908,  1909, 

and  1910. 


Men  Woo 

Men  Lost 

Cowobe 

Dwbtfol 

TOTALS 

All  Strikes  

10 

16 

24 

4 

54 

Individual  Demands  — 
Increased  Pay 

7 

4 

16 

2 

29 

Recognition  of  the  Union  __ 
Shorter  Hours 

~4 

3 
1 

~7 

3 
12 

Closed  Shop 

3 

2 

5 

Other  Demands*  

1 

8 

9 

4 

22 

("Includes  reinstatement  of  discharged  employees,  shop 
rules,  sympathetic  strikes,  etc.) 

It  appears  that  the  men  most  frequently  strike  for  in- 
creased wages,  and  that  these  demands  are  generally  in 
some  measure  successful,  for  a  compromise  on  the  matter 
of  pay  means  in  every  case  a  gain  to  the  men  over  the  pre- 
vious rate.  In  their  demands  for  shorter  hours  the  strik- 
ers have  likewise  been  successful  as  a  rule.  The  closed  shop, 
however,  having  been  already  largely  won  in  many  trades 
where  it  is  most  easily  enforced,  is  today  hard  to  gain. 
Recognition  of  the  union  is  one  of  the  concessions  that  em- 
ployers most  grudgingly  grant  because  it  means  eventual 
ability  of  the  men  to  enforce  their  demands  just  as  fast  as 
business  warrants  improved  working  conditions;  the  em- 
ployer knows  well  that  he  can  hold  his  men  down  better  if 
he  treats  with  them  as  individuals.  Out  of  a  total  of  sev- 
enty-one demands  made  by  the  men  in  these  strikes  they 
completely  lost  only  eighteen  or  about  one-fourth,  while  six 
others  were  doubtful.  Some  measure  of  success  was  there- 
fore attained  on  two-thirds  of  the  points  at  issue  and  in 
three-fifths  of  the  strikes. 

There  is  a  general  impression  that  it  is  the  usual  thing 
for  a  strike  to  be  accompanied  by  violence  or  rioting.  This 
notion  is  particularly  prevalent  since  the  great  street  car 
and  teamsters'  strikes  in  Indianapolis  in  1913.  There  is 
little  doubt,  however,  but  that  a  moderately  efficient  use  of 


<)8  INDIANA 

the  police  force  would  have  prevented  any  excessive  amount 
of  violence  at  that  time.  Indeed,  it  is  surprising  how  little 
physical  violence  there  actually  is.  Among  the  fifty-four 
strikes  reported  during  the  last  four  years  of  the  existence 
of  the  Labor  Commission,  rioting  and  bloodshed  was  noted 
in  but  four  cases,  and  the  settlements  were  notably  friendly 
in  many.  For  instance,  when,  in  the  summer  of  1907  eight 
hundred  employees  of  the  Union  Chair  Company  of  Tell  City 
were  out,  it  was  feared  that  there  would  be  serious  trouble, 
and  the  militia  was  sent  for;  the  troops  were  met  by  the 
strikers  with  a  brass  band  and  were  royally  entertained  by 
the  people  of  the  city.  That  same  year  when  the  five  hun- 
dred employees  of  the  Penn  American  Glass  Company  of 
Anderson  struck  over  a  misunderstanding  as  to  the  time  of 
making  payments,  they  did  not  walk  right  out,  but  stayed 
to  take  care  of  their  tools  and  machinery.  In  short,  the 
laboring  man  is  a  human  specimen;  if  force  appears  to  be 
the  only  or  even  the  best  means  of  gaining  an  end  which  he 
honestly  believes  just,  he  will  no  more  hesitate  to  employ 
force  than  did  the  patriots  of  England,  France,  or  the 
American  colonies  who  appealed  to  "the  sacred  right  of 
revolution"  against  intolerable  government.  But  the  labor- 
ing man  has  found  that  violence  does  not,  on  the  whole,  pay, 
and  he  now  largely  refrains.  The  position  of  a  number  of 
the  best  labor  leaders  may  be  illustrated  by  the  words  of 
Charles  Fox,  in  his  presidential  address  to  the  Indiana  State 
Federation  of  Labor  in  its  1914  convention  at  Fort  Wayne: 
"Many  more  disturbances  of  smaller  proportions  have 
occurred  all  over  the  state,  and  in  all  these  conflicts  em- 
ployers have  used  that  old,  time-worn  custom  of  hiring  de- 
generates to  create  disturbances,  and  then  hollo  that  it 
was  the  men  on  strike  who  were  responsible,  but  I  am  glad 
to  note  that  the  public  are  refusing  to  be  fooled  by  this  old 
cry  and  are  beginning  to  see  who  are  the  real  disturbers  of 
the  peace  of  the  communities." 

Summary. 

The  facts  presented  in  this  chapter  are  not  as  complete 
as  would  be  desirable,  but  they  are  sufficient  to  warrant 
some  conclusions.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  too  much  child 
labor  in  Indiana,  even  yet,  altho  the  distribution  of  the  labor 
force  among  the  industrial  groups  is  quite  normal  and 
healthy.  In  the  second  place,  a  large  proportion  of  women 


LABOR  99 

wage  earners  are  employed  at  wages  that  are  insufficient  to 
keep  them  efficiently  alive;  they  are  forced  to  work  out- 
rageous hours  at  the  holiday  season  in  the  stores,  and  are 
subject  to  some  physically  injurious  conditions,  such  as  bad 
positions  while  at  work  and  unnecessary  standing.  Third, 
labor  is  comparatively  well  organized  in  the  commonwealth 
in  local  trade  unions  connected  with  their  trade  national  or 
international  bodies,  and  brought  together  for  cooperation 
in  city  centrals  and  in  the  State  Federation.  Yet  there  is  a 
large  field  still  unoccupied  by  the  unions.  Fourth,  altho 
the  laboring  men  much  prefer  to  settle  their  differences 
with  their  employers  by  negotiations,  they  are  sometimes 
driven  to  strike,  but,  on  the  whole,  these  strikes  do  not  ser- 
iously interfere  with  business  as  they  are  generally  brief 
and  are  seldom  characterized  by  violence.  In  more  than  a 
majority  of  instances  the  men  gain  some  concession  by 
striking. 

On  the  whole,  labor  conditions  in  Indiana  are  good. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Labor  Legislation 

"Thank  God,  the  legislature  won't  meet  again  for  two 
years"  is  a  sentiment  more  often  felt  than  expressed.  Yet 
the  legislature  is  not  altogether  bad;  indeed,  it  has  served 
labor  many  a  good  turn.  It  seems,  perhaps,  curious  that 
such  a  self-reliant  people  as  the  Americans  should  so  cram 
full  the  statute  books  as  to  gain  a  leading  place  in  the  world 
for  bulkiness  of  laws,  and  that  Edgar  A.  Perkins,  in  his 
presidential  report  to  the  Indiana  State  Federation  of  Labor, 
should  assert  in  one  breath  that  labor  must  fight  its  battles 
unaided,  and  in  the  next  that  the  legislative  committee 
must  be  more  active  and  have  more  cooperation.*  The  ex- 
planation of  this  apparent  contradiction  seems  to  be  that 
the  American  passion  for  law  making  is  a  result  of  this  self- 
reliance.  Each  individual  wants  to  win  his  own  life  strug- 
gle. A  group  of  men  in  related  pursuits  feel  that  certain 
conditions,  which  might  be  created  by  statute,  would  help 
them.  In  order  to  secure  the  necessary  law  this  group 
must  consult  with  a  second,  must  grant  aid  to  it.  And  so 
groups  combine  to  secure  laws,  laws  that,  considered  sep- 
arately, interest  only  a  small  per  cent  of  the  legislators  or  of 
the  public.  To  find  illustration  one  need  only  recall  the 
main  charge  against  the  1816  Constitution,  that  it  permit- 
ted special  laws  on  any  subject,  and  to  look  at  the  many 
laws  of  1915  that  in  no  way  interest  the  majority  of  citizens. 
Viewed  in  this  light,  bulky  statute  books  may  be  considered 
a  characteristic  product  of  the  American  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence. 

It  is  not  surprising,  then,  to  find  that  the  legislatures 
of  Indiana  have  placed  upon  the  statute  books  a  large  num- 
ber of  laws  that  are  of  vital  interest  to  labor.  The  develop- 

*Proceedings  of  the  Ind.  State  Fed.  Lab.  1909,  pp  16 
and  17. 


LABOR    LEGISLATION  101 

ment  of  this  code  has  been  without  system;  concessions 
have  been  gained  wherever  possible,  for  the  workingmen 
have  had  to  contend  with  forces  rich  in  resources  of  money, 
of  intellect,  and  of  prejudice.  Moreover,  these  forces  have 
been  firmly  united  in  their  opposition  to  labor.  For  instance, 
since  the  passage  of  a  federal  statute  in  1908,  the  railways 
doing  interstate  business  would  not  be  directly  affected  by 
a  state  workmen's  compensation  law;  yet  they  have  main- 
tained a  lobby  against  such  an  enactment  on  the  ground 
that  their  welfare  depended  on  the  welfare  of  industry,  and 
that  workmen's  compensation  laws  would  injure  them  by 
driving  factories  out  of  the  state.  Against  these  powerful 
and  united  foes  labor  has  won  its  victories  with  much  diffi- 
culty, but  with  a  certainty  of  ultimate  triumph. 

Since  these  circumstances  make  it  equally  difficult  to 
present  the  subject  of  Indiana's  labor  legislation  as  a  chro- 
nological development  and  as  a  code,  an  attempt  will  be 
made  to  point  out  the  significance  of  the  more  important 
provisions  of  the  various  laws. 

Children. 

In  the  first  place,  there  are  a  number  of  laws  for  the 
special  benefit  of  children.  For  over  a  score  of  years  child- 
ren under  fifteen  have  been  forbidden  to  engage  in  acrobat- 
ics, in  callings  hazardous  to  life  or  limb,  or  in  businesses 
dangerous  to  morals  such  as  those  connected  with  dance 
halls,  theatres,  saloons,  prostitution,  and  obscene  actions. 
Fines  were  to  be  assessed  upon  the  adult  responsible  for  any 
child  caught  violating  these  laws.  In  1911  after  the  bitter- 
est fight  of  the  session  a  somewhat  emasculated  child  labor 
bill  was  carried.  Today  no  child  under  fourteen  years  may 
be  employed  for  wages,  except  in  agriculture  and  except  that 
children  from  twelve  to  fourteen  may  work  in  canning  fac- 
tories from  the  first  of  June  to  the  first  of  October.  No 
child  under  sixteen  may  work  more  than  forty-eight  hours 
per  week,  or  more  than  eight  hours  per  day,  except  that,  on 
the  written  consent  of  the  parent  or  guardian,  the  child  may 
work  nine  hours  a  day  or  fifty-four  hours  per  week.  To 
guard  against  night  work,  this  labor  must  be  performed  be- 
tween seven  A.  M.  and  six  P.  M.  Moreover,  no  child  aged 
fourteen  but  under  sixteen  may  be  employed  during  school 
hours  without  a  work  certificate  which  cannot  be  issued 


102  INDIANA 

legally  unless  the  child  shows  a  small  degree  of  physical  and 
mental  advance.  The  child,  however,  is  not  to  be  idle,  for 
all  children  from  the  ages  of  seven  to  fourteen  must  attend 
school,  and  all  under  sixteen  must  attend  unless  regularly 
employed  during  school  hours.  In  this  way,  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  age  provisions  of  the  child  labor  laws  is  made 
less  difficult.  Finally,  the  list  of  occupations  forbidden  to 
children  has  beeil  extended  to  include  employment  in  tobac- 
co factories,  in  breweries  or  distilleries,  in  making  matches 
or  explosives,  and  in  work  about  certain  classes  of  dangerous 
machinery. 

By  this  legislation  of  1911  Indiana  was  not  placed  in 
the  forefront  of  the  states  that  care  for  their  children. 
There  is  no  good  reason  for  allowing  children  to  work  in 
canning  factories  but  not  elsewhere,  there  is  no  logical  justi- 
fication for  allowing  children  of  very  young  age  to  do  farm 
work  for  wages,  and  the  age  limit  for  entering  dangerous 
trades  might  well  be  eighteen  rather  than  sixteen;  even 
adults  are  prone  to  carelessness — young  people  do  not,  as  a 
rule,  realize  danger  enough  to  appreciate  the  need  of  being 
careful.  Indiana  is,  then,  behind  the  best  commonwealths 
in  child  labor  legislation  but  has  risen  from  her  former  very 
backward  position. 

Protection  of  Women. 

American  courts  have  frequently  placed  women  in  a 
position  midway  between  children  and  men,  a  place  that  is, 
in  a  fashion,  accorded  them  in  the  labor  laws  of  Indiana. 
Women  are  not  allowed  to  work  between  the  hours  of  ten 
P.  M.  and  six  A.  M.  in  the  factories.  No  female  may  be 
allowed  to  work  underground  in  a  mine,  and  the  women  in 
the  stores  must  be  provided  with  seats  which  they  must  be 
permitted  to  occupy  when  not  serving  customers.  The  en- 
forcement of  this  seat  law  is  certainly  a  farce,  for  it  has 
become  part  of  the  floorwalker's  business  to  find  active  work 
for  any  saleslady  whom  he  detects  sitting. 

In  the  regulation  of  the  labor  of  women  as  well  as  of 
children  the  Indiana  law  is  weak.  For  instance,  there  ought 
to  be  a  limitation  of  the  weekly  working  time  of  women  to 
fifty-four  hours,  not  more  than  nine  hours  to  be  in  any  one 
day,  unless  that  period  is  exceeded  five  days  to  make  pos- 
sible a  half  holiday  the  sixth.  Exceptions  might  be  made 
for  periods  of  great  industrial  pressure;  yet  the  allowance 


LABOR    LEGISLATION  103 

of  overtime  should  be  carefully  prescribed  if  made  at  all. 
The  working  hours  could  well  be  more  closely  restricted  to 
the  period  from  seven  A.  M.  to  five  P.  M. 

This  circumscription  of  woman's  work  hours  should  be 
extended  to  include  mercantile  as  well  as  factory  employ- 
ments. This  proposal  is  made  in  the  full  consciousness  of 
the  fact  that  the  abandonment  of  night  opening  of  stores 
would  be  necessitated  by  such  a  law.  One  concession  might 
be  made  the  storekeepers:  that  women  be  allowed  to  work 
in  the  evening  once  a  week  until  nine  P.  M.,  provided  they 
were  given  a  half  day  off.  Doubtless  such  a  proposal  sounds 
radical  in  the  extreme  and  yet  it  seems  difficult  to  point  out 
any  reason  why  women  in  the  stores  should  work  longer 
hours  than  those  in  factories.  Beyond  a  doubt  standing 
most  of  the  day  behind  a  counter  is  fatiguing — almost  if 
not  quite  as  arduous  as  tending  a  machine.  Probably  the 
mental  strain  is  greater  in  the  store,  for  there  the  work  con- 
sists of  more  than  motions  that  may  become  mechanical. 
By  the  enforcement  of  such  a  law  the  owners  of  the  store 
would  not  lose  any  of  their  legitimate  business.  All  the 
things  that  people  really  need  they  will  have  to  buy  whether 
the  store  closes  at  five  or  at  ten;  it  is  largely  a  matter  of 
habit  that  so  many  shop  in  the  evening.  The  individual 
is  helpless  against  a  general  custom,  but  if  all  storekeepers 
are  constrained  by  the  same  law  to  close  at  a  normal  supper 
hour,  the  generous  employer  will  not  suffer  in  competition. 
Of  course  a  store  might  continue  open  later  if  men  con- 
stituted the  force  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  men  successfully 
demand  higher  wages  than  women  receive,  and  there  is 
small  danger  that  men  will  displace  women  in  mercantile 
establishments.  Probably  the  women  in  the  towns  and 
small  cities  would  be  the  chief  beneficiaries  of  such  a  law. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  the  necessity  for  any 
limitation  of  women's  hours.  In  this  brief  compass  two 
things  may  be  said.  First,  on  humanitarian  grounds  is  this 
restriction  necessary,  for  an  individual  who  works  hard 
more  than  nine  hours  a  day  has  so  little  energy  left  that 
life  can  afford  scant  joy.  Both  leisure  and  energy  are  pre- 
requisites to  the  pleasures  which  are  the  natural  rights  of 
all  citizens.  Second,  the  girls  in  factories  and  stores  are  the 
mothers  of  the  future  generation.  Several  studies*  have 

*Notably  the  Census  Publication  Women  at  Work. 


104  INDIANA 

absolutely  demonstrated  that  the  average  work  life  of  a  girl 
is  short  and  that  most  of  them  withdraw  from  industry  to 
become  housewives  and  mothers.  Now  it  is  widely  if  not  uni- 
versally recognized  that  overwork  undermines  the  health, 
and  that  the  health  of  the  mother  tells  on  the  child.  Of 
course  individuals  differ  in  their  capacities  for  labor ;  but  at 
present  a  law  cannot  adapt  itself  to  individual  variations, 
neither  can  industry,  hence  the  need  of  a  uniform  restric- 
tion. A  limitation  of  hours  of  work  may  not  materially  de- 
crease output  for  the  day,  for  precision,  speed,  and  freedom 
from  accidents  should  increase.  A  limitation  of  hours, 
therefore,  may  aid,  and  certainly  will  not  much  injure  the 
employer.  So,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  women  leisure 
and  for  the  purpose  of  assuring  their  children  a  chance  to 
have  health,  a  restriction  of  their  work  hours  is  necessary. 
One  final  point  in  which  the  Indiana  law  fails  properly 
to  protect  women  should  be  noted.  Every  employed  female 
should  be  allowed  one  day's  absence  from  work  absolutely 
at  her  own  option  once  in  every  four  weeks  without  loss  of 
pay.  This  statute  should  apply  to  every  woman  from  her 
who  scrubs  to  the  college  professor.  Not  only  would  it  add 
to  the  comfort  of  the  women,  but  it  would  strengthen  them 
to  do  better  work  on  the  other  days. 

Health  and  Safety. 

So,  for  the  children  and  for  the  women  Indiana  has 
passed  special  statutes  that  are  not  adequate  to  the  needs 
and  yet  that  are  far  in  advance  of  the  the  progress  that  has 
been  made  in  many  states.  The  next  general  class  of  laws 
to  attract  attention  are  those  meant  to  provide  for  the 
Health,  Safety,  and  Comfort  of  working  folks.  These  three 
words  "health,"  "safety,"  and  "comfort"  are  used  together 
because  it  may  be  impossible  to  determine  the  primary  pur- 
pose of  an  act.  For  example,  the  statute  compelling  fac- 
tories to  provide  washrooms  and  the  law  requiring  a  good 
caboose  on  railway  freight  trains  are  designed  at  once  to 
afford  the  employees  comfort,  and  to  protect  their  health. 
In  the  factory  code  as  it  now  stands  elevator  shafts  must 
be  protected,  dangerous  machinery  must  be  safeguarded, 
handrails  must  be  placed  on  stairways,  doors  must  open 
outward,  and,  wherever  the  work  is  conducted  above  the 
second  floor,  fire  escapes  must  be  provided  to  suit  specifi- 
cations of  the  fire  chief  or  of  the  state  department  of  in- 


LABOR    LEGISLATION  105 

spection.  This  statute  applies  to  every  work  building  over 
two  stories  in  height  unless  the  fire  chief  believes  fire  es- 
capes to  be  unnecessary.  During  the  erection  of  high  build- 
ings the  law  requires  such  precautions  as  the  laying  of  floors 
within  one  story  of  that  on  which  work  is  being  done,  the 
protection  of  staging,  the  enclosing  of  hoists,  and  the  guard- 
ing of  machinery  and  electric  wires.  All  boilers  are  subject 
to  rigid  inspection  twice  a  year.  They  have  to  meet  elab- 
orate specifications,  to  afford  a  wide  margin  of  safety,  and 
to  be  equipped  with  such  safety  devices  as  steam  gauges,  a 
safety  valve,  fusible  plugs,  and  a  blowoff  pipe.  Many  spe- 
cial laws  have  been  passed  to  guard  the  railroad  employees. 
For  instance,  gangs  working  outside  of  the  yard  limits  must 
have  at  least  two  members  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
flagging  rules;  switch  engines  must  be  equipped  with  foot 
boards,  grab  irons,  and  headlights  at  each  end ;  wires  above 
tracks  must  be  of  either  copper  or  aluminum,  at  least  twen- 
ty-two feet  high,  and  strung  from  poles  of  specified  dimen- 
sions; water  spouts  must  be  fitted  with  automatic  locks  in 
order  that  they  cannot  swing  back  over  the  track;  indis- 
criminate pushing  of  trains  is  forbidden ;  locomotive  engines 
must  be  equipped  with  such  ash  pans  that  the  ashes  may 
be  dumped  without  the  necessity  of  a  man's  going  under  the 
engine;  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  cars  in  steam  trains 
and  all  electric  cars  must  be  provided  with  power  brakes; 
steam  cars  must  be  furnished  with  automatic  couplers ;  and 
bridges  over  tracks  must  be  constructed  at  least  twenty-one 
feet  clear  above  the  rails.  There  are  other  provisions  for 
the  safety  of  the  employees  of  the  railways,  but  space  for- 
bids their  mention,  except  the  class  applying  to  the  men  as 
men.  For  example,  the  engineers  and  conductors  on  steam 
railroads  twenty-five  miles  or  more  in  length  must  have  had 
at  least  two  years  experience ;  enginemen,  firemen,  hostlers, 
engine  foremen,  engine  watchers,  and  railway  trainmen 
must  be  able  to  read,  write,  speak,  and  understand  English, 
and  to  see  and  to  understand  signals;  minimum,  crews  are 
necessary  for  trains  of  different  sizes  and  only  regular  em- 
ployees serve  on  train  crews  except  in  case  a  member  of  a 
crew  is  taken  ill  or  injured  between  stations;  no  employees 
except  those  on  relief  trains  may  be  on  duty  for  more  than 
sixteen  consecutive  hours;  no  one  may  drink  intoxicating 
liquor  on  any  part  of  a  train  or  on  an  interurban  car  except 
in  those  cars  licensed  to  sell  liquor  in  the  state  of  Indiana. 


106  INDIANA 

There  is  also  a  special  safety  code  for  the  mines  which 
requires  frequent  inspection  by  the  mine  boss  to  guard 
against  falling  roof,  safety  switches  in  the  tunnels,  wire  rope 
on  hoists,  brakes  on  the  drums,  safety  lamps,  adequate  venti- 
lation, careful  use  of  explosives,  certificates  of  competency 
for  miners,  and  frequent  inspection  by  a  state  official.  The 
1915  legislature  has  provided  for  a  commission  to  codify 
the  mining  laws  and  to  recomlmend  any  changes  that  seem 
advisable.  A  novice  reading  the  Indiana  statutes  would 
feel  that  ample  provision  has  been  made  for  the  safety  of 
the  working  people  of  the  state.  Probably  the  law  if  strict- 
ly enforced  would  be  sufficient,  and  yet  every  session  of  the 
legislature  witnesses  some  additions  to  the  safety  require- 
ments on  railroads,  in  mines,  or  in  the  regulation  of  boilers. 

These  laws  have  been  framed  largely  f6r  the  benefit  of 
the  employee,  altho  the  statutes  requiring  rest  periods  on 
the  railroads,  competency  in  the  employees,  and  standardi- 
zation of  boilers,  are  instances  of  a  two-fold  aim  which  in- 
cludes the  protection  of  the  public.  There  are,  however, 
certain  legal  requirements  that  protect  primarily  the  gen- 
eral health,  and  incidentally  affect  the  workers.  By  way 
of  illustration  may  be  cited  the  prohibition  of  certain  manu- 
facturing in  living  rooms  of  tenements  of  any  article  for 
sale,  unless  the  members  of  the  family  do  all  the  work,  un- 
less the  air  space  is  250  cubic  feet  per  individual  by  day  or 
400  cubic  feet  by  night,  and  unless  the  Health  Officer  has 
granted  a  written  permit.  Another  important  protection  of 
the  consumer  is  provided  for  in  the  requirements  that  the 
rooms  in  which  food  is  produced  be  clean,  be  properly  light- 
ed, drained,  plumbed,  and  ventilated,  and  be  provided  with 
well  separated  toilets.  Sleeping  in  rooms  used  for  food  pro- 
duction is  forbidden. 

Employers'  Liability. 

All  these  laws  for  the  safety  of  the  workers  and  of  the 
consumers  are  excellent,  but  they  have  failed  to  eliminate 
accidents.  The  old  common  law  theory  of  accident  pre- 
vention was  that  if  the  workman  knew  that  he  had  to  bear 
the  burden  of  any  mishap,  he  would  take  care  not  to  be  hurt. 
Perhaps  the  common  law  never  bothered  about  accident 
prevention,  it  certainly  did  put  the  burden  upon  the  injured 
man,  unless  he  could  prove  that  the  event  was  the  fault  of 
the  employer.  This  was  accomplished  by  three  well  known 


LABOR    LEGISLATION  107 

doctrines.  The  man  who  entered  a  dangerous  employment 
knew  what  he  was  doing,  if  he  was  hurt  it  was  because  he 
had  "assumed  the  risk"  of  his  calling,  and  he  had  no  re- 
course to  his  employer.  This  assumed  risk  doctrine  went 
even  farther,  however,  for  if  the  employer  failed  to  use 
legally  required  safeguards,  the  employee  still  assumed  the 
hazard  if  he  entered  the  occupation  knowing  of  this  failure. 
The  second  legal  principle  by  which  the  burden  of  the  acci- 
dent was  shifted  to  the  workman  was  the  doctrine  of  "con- 
tributory negligence."  If  the  injured  man  had  been  in  any 
way  careless,  even  tho  far  the  largest  part  of  the  blame 
for  the  accident  lay  upon  others,  he  was  legally  responsible 
for  his  own  misfortune.  For  example,  suppose  a  youth 
were  ordered  to  clean  moving  machinery  (a  violation  of 
statute  law),  and  suppose  his  jumper  were  unbuttoned  as 
he  went  to  the  task.  The  garment  might  catch  and  pull 
him  into  any  sort  of  trouble.  Yet  he  could  collect  no  dam- 
ages, for  his  negligence  had  contributed  to  his  hurt.  The 
third  defense  of  the  employer  under  the  common  law  was 
the  "fellow-servant"  doctrine  which  provided  that  an  em- 
ployee injured  by  the  carelessness  of  other  employees  could 
obtain  no  redress  from  the  employer.  The  theory  was  that 
a  man  could  throw  up  his  job  if  he  thot  any  of  his  fel- 
low workmen  were  liable  to  commit  any  act  that  might  en- 
danger him.  To  make  the  absurdity  of  this  doctrine  clear 
it  is  but  necessary  to  illustrate  with  a  typical  story.  A 
freight  train  runs  past  a  red  light  and  in  the  resulting 
wreck  a  brakeman  is  badly  injured.  Under  the  "fellow  ser- 
vant" principle,  however,  he  cannot  secure  damages  from 
the  company,  for  it  was  the  engineer's  carelessness  that 
caused  the  accident.  This  doctrine  makes  the  obviously  ab- 
surd assumption  that  the  employee  is  responsible  for  the 
ability  and  the  faithfulness  of  the  other  workers.  In  the 
days  when  these  three  principles  were  formulated,  when 
there  were  no  large  power  factories,  when  employees  in  one 
establishment  were  few  and  could  know  each  other  well, 
when  risks  were  not  as  many,  as  subtle,  and  as  complicated 
as  they  are  today,  perhaps  the  doctrines  were  justifiable. 
Now,  however,  they  are  so  broadly  construed  and  so  readily 
invoked  on  appeal  to  the  higher  courts  that  a  prominent  In- 
diana corporation  lawyer  has  never  lost  a  work  accident  case 
for  any  of  the  companies  he  has  defended.  Such  a  con- 
dition of  the  law  gave  the  employers  no  incentive  for  pro- 


108  INDIANA 

tecting  their  men.  It  was  so  easy  to  escape  financial  re- 
sponsibility that  it  was  cheaper  to  ignore  the  legal  require- 
ments for  safeguards  than  to  obey  them. 

Until  1915  the  development  of  Indiana's  law  in  this 
particular  was  slow  and  spasmodic.  In  order  to  prevent 
employers  from  refusing  work  to  men  who  would  not  sign 
such  a  waiver  of  rights,  early  statutes  made  non-enforceable 
an  agreement  waiving  the  employee's  rights  to  damages  if 
injured,  unless  the  contract  were  made  after  the  mishap, 
or  unless  the  employer  provided  a  voluntary  relief  associ- 
ation. Another  early  step  was  the  enactment  that  in  acci- 
dent damage  suits  the  employee  did  not  have  to  prove  that 
he  had  not  been  guilty  of  contributory  negligence.  This 
was  a  very  small  gain,  tho  a  real  one.  Then  the  legislature 
tried  to  make  all  corporations  liable  in  cases  where  the  in- 
jury was  incurred  by  a  fault  in  the  tools,  machinery,  or 
works,  where  the  injury  resulted  from  obedience  to  rules  or 
laws  of  the  company  or  to  commands  of  a  superior,  or  where 
a  fellow  employee  was  to  blame ;  but  the  courts  first  decided 
that  this  act  was  unconstitutional  except  as  it  applied  to 
railroads,  then  exempted  electric  railways,  and  finally  they 
weakened  its  application  even  to  steam  roads.  In  1907  two 
forward  steps  were  taken;  first,  railways  were  forbidden  to 
require  of  the  employee  a  waiver  of  rights  to  sue  in  case  of 
accident  as  a  condition  to  joining  a  voluntary  relief  associ- 
ation; second,  these  carriers  might  not  avail  themselves  of 
the  "contributory  negligence"  defense  if  a  mishap  resulted 
from  failure  to  adapt  the  overhead  bridges  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  law,  or  from  failure  to  clear  the  track  of 
obstructions.  But  it  was  not  until  1911  that  any  general 
progress  was  made.  By  the  enactment  of  that  year  the  old 
rule  putting  the  burden  of  proof  of  negligence  upon  the  em- 
ployer was  reaffirmed,  and  he  was  denied  the  right  to  use 
the  defense  of  "assumed  risk"  if  the  law  or  orders  of  the 
qualified  state  officials  had  been  disregarded,  or  if  the  acci- 
dent was  brought  about  by  obedience  of  the  injured  man  to 
orders.  The  provisions  of  this  statute  were  a  poor  sop  to 
labor,  and  Indiana  was  still  on  the  black  list  of  states. 

Workmen's  Compensation. 

In  1913  the  legislature  evaded  the  workmen's  compen- 
sation question  by  providing  for  a  Committee  to  report  in 
1915  on  the  defects  of  Employers'  Liability,  and  their  reme- 


LABOR    LEGISLATION  109 

dies.  So  in  1915  the  issue  was  fairly  faced  and  Indiana  was 
given  a  real  "workmen's  compensation  act." 

No  employer  and  no  employee  is  compelled  to  accept 
the  terms  of  this  law,  but  if  the  employer  refuses  to  be 
bound  by  its  provisions  he  forfeits  the  three  defenses  that 
have  been  discussed,  namely,  contributory  negligence,  the 
fellow  servant  doctrine,  and  the  assumption  of  risks  by  the 
employee.  The  loss  of  these  bulwarks  would  mean  that 
when  the  jury  awarded  dam'ages  to  an  injured  workman  a 
higher  court  would  have  difficulty  in  overruling  the  verdict 
on  a  legal  technicality.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  employee 
alone  elect  not  to  come  under  the  law,  these  defenses  are  left 
unimpaired  and  he  stands  small  chance  of  collecting  dam- 
ages in  case  he  is  injured.  Unless  formal  notice  to  the  con- 
trary is  given,  however,  it  is  assumed  that  both  employer  and 
employee  have  chosen  to  be  governed  by  the  terms  of  the 
act.  The  act  does  not  apply  to  casual  laborers,  to  domestic 
servants,  or  to  farm  laborers  unless  they  and  their  employ- 
ers specifically  elect  it. 

Under  this  law  the  procedure  is  fairly  simple.  As  soon 
as  possible  after  an  accident,  the  injured  employee  or  his 
representative  must  notify  the  employer  of  the  time,  place, 
nature,  and  cause  of  the  mishap,  together  with  the  name 
and  address  of  the  victim.  After  the  receipt  of  this  notice 
and  until  thirty  days  after  the  accident,  the  employer  must 
furnish  medical  attendance  and  such  hospital  or  surgical 
service  and  supplies  as  are  necessary  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Industrial  Board.  If  the  employee  refuses  to  accept  this 
service,  he  forfeits  claim  to  compensation  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  such  refusal  unless  the  Industrial  Board  ap- 
proves his  course.  Moreover,  he  cannot  refuse  to  submit  to 
an  examination  by  a  physician  representing  either  the  em- 
ployer or  the  Industrial  Board,  altho  he  may  have  present 
a  physician  representing  himself.  Beginning  with  the  third 
week  after  the  accident  and  during  the  period  of  total  dis- 
ability not  to  exceed  five  hundred  weeks  the  injured  man  is 
to  receive  weekly  fifty-five  per  cent  of  his  average  weekly 
earnings  before  the  accident.  For  purposes  of  calculating 
compensation  the  law  provides  that  these  weekly  wages 
cannot  be  less  than  ten  dollars  nor  more  than  twenty-four 
dollars.  In  cases  of  partial  disability,  the  injured  man  is  to 
receive  for  the  period  of  the  disability,  but  for  no  more  than 
three  hundred  weeks,  one-half  of  the  decrease  in  his  earn- 


110  INDIANA 

ing  power.  But  for  specified  injuries  resulting  in  perma- 
nent partial  disability  the  payment  is  to  be  fifty-five  per 
cent  of  the  old  average  wages  for  a  number  of  weeks  not 
over  two  hundred.  By  way  of  illustration,  the  loss  of  the 
hand  at  or  above  the  wrist  is  compensated  for  by  fifty-five 
per  cent  of  old  wages  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  weeks,  the 
loss  of  one  eye  for  one  hundred  weeks,  and  so  on.  After 
the  payments  have  been  made  for  twenty-six  weeks,  the 
future  payments  may  be  converted  into  a  lump  sum  fixed 
by  the  Industrial  Board  and  not  over  the  commutable  value 
of  the  future  installments.  In  case  of  commutation  the 
Industrial  Board  may  have  the  circuit  or  superior  court 
appoint  a  trustee  to  administer  the  fund.  If  the  employee 
is  killed  by  the  accident,  the  dependents  receive  fifty-five 
per  cent  of  the  deceased's  average  weekly  wage  for  three 
hundred  weeks,  and  the  employer  is  to  pay  funeral  expenses 
not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars.  If  the  employee  dies 
from  another  cause  than  the  accident  while  receiving  com- 
pensation, the  compensation  is  to  be  continued  to  dependents 
for  the  regular  period.  If  an  employee,  leaving  no  depend- 
ents, is  killed,  the  employer  is  to  provide  funeral  expenses 
not  to  exceed  one  hundred  dollars,  and  no  more. 

Beside  these,  the  main  provisions  for  compensation, 
there  are  many  safeguards  in  the  law,  both  for  the  employer 
and  the  employee.  The  employer  is  not  relieved  from  pen- 
alties for  failure  to  perform  his  statutory  duty.  A  princi- 
pal employer  is  responsible  for  ultimate  payment  by  his 
sub-contractors  of  compensation  for  injuries  received  on 
the  premises  of  the  principal  or  during  work  under  his  di- 
rection, the  act  applying  even  if  the  mishap  occurs  without 
the  state.  The  employer  must  either  insure  in  an  approved 
company  or  else  give  bond  of  his  ability  to  make  compensa- 
tion payments,  but  the  Industrial  Board  may  revoke  the 
privilege  of  self  insurance  on  sixty  days  notice;  the  insurer 
must  agree  to  settle  all  claims  promptly;  and,  finally,  com- 
pensation claims  have  the  same  priority  as  unpaid  wages 
in  the  settlement  of  bankrupts*  affairs  and  in  the  winding 
up  of  estates.  On  the  other  hand,  no  compensation  is  due 
if  the  injury  is  self  inflicted,  or  if  it  is  the  result  of  wilful 
failure  to  use  a  safety  appliance  or  to  obey  a  statute  or  of 
intoxication  on  the  part  of  the  injured — but  in  these  events 
the  burden  of  proof  is  on  the  employer.  Moreover,  the 
compensation  payments  do  not  begin  until  two  weeks  after 


LABOR    LEGISLATION  111 

the  accident;  this  is  to  guard  against  the  purposeful  incur- 
ring of  minor  injuries  by  workers.  If  a  partially  disabled 
employee  refuses  to  accept  work  he  can  perform,  his  com- 
pensation is  to  cease  during  the  time  of  his  refusal  unless 
his  position  is  approved  by  the  Industrial  Board.  Either 
party  may  appeal  to  the  courts  on  questions  of  law  but  not 
of  fact.  Finally,  companies  already  having  compensation 
systems  of  their  own  may  retain  them  provided  they  are 
no  less  liberal  than  the  law,  and  employers  may  still  form 
mutual  insurance  associations. 

Such  is  Indiana's  Workmen's  Compensation  Act.  What 
may  be  expected  from  it?  In  the  first  place,  there  will 
doubtless  be  an  apparent  increase  in  the  number  of  ac- 
cidents, for  the  workers  will  find  it  worth  while  to  report 
minor  injuries.  Second,  instead  of  being  practically  sure 
that  there  is  no  possibility  of  obtaining  any  damages  the 
injured  man  who  has  not  been  grossly  negligent  will  be  cer- 
tain of  prompt  compensation — not,  indeed,  adequate,  but 
still  worth  having.  Third,  the  number  of  serious  accidents 
should  decrease,  for  the  insurance  companies  will  offer  low- 
er rates  to  the  plants  that  have  the  best  safety  provisions, 
and  it  will  then  be  to  the  employer's  advantage  to  protect 
his  men.  Fourth,  the  courts  will  find  relief  from  a  tremen- 
dous amount  of  litigation,  because  the  law  provides  for  set- 
tlement of  claims  by  the  Industrial  Board.  Court  justice, 
however,  will  be  denied  to  no  man,  as  the  way  is  open  for 
appeal  on  points  of  law  to  the  circuit  or  superior  courts. 
Moreover,  a  great  waste  of  money  paid  the  lawyers  by 
workmen  and  employers  in  liability  legislation  should  be 
saved.  Fifth,  there  is  removed  by  this  law  one  of  the 
grounds  for  the  discontent  of  the  workers  and  for  suspicion 
between  employer  and  employee.  Sixth,  the  state  will  be 
relieved  of  part  of  its  burden  in  the  support  of  paupers. 
It  is  probable,  finally,  that  the  burden  upon  the  employers 
will  be  little  if  any  greater  than  the  old  cost  of  litigation, 
for  the  lawyers'  charges  and  legal  fees  will  be  saved  and 
the  number  of  serious  accidents  should  be  diminished  by 
greater  care.  It  will  be  interesting  to  observe  the  working 
of  this  act. 

Protection  of  Remuneration.  , 

The  next  class  of  labor  legislation  is  that  which  is  de- 
signed to  insure  the  wage  earner  full  remuneration  for  his 


112  INDIANA 

effort.  Nothing  like  a  minimum  wage  has  yet  been  ser- 
iously suggested  for  Indiana,  except  for  school  teachers 
and  men  working  out  their  road  taxes.  Nevertheless,  there 
are  other  ways  in  which  the  workman  is  protected.  The 
employer  must  pay  wages  at  least  twice  a  month,  and,  when 
he  pays,  he  cannot  hold  back  earnings  for  more  than  the 
preceding  ten  days.  Moreover,  wages  must  be  paid  in  law- 
ful money.  If  anything  else  is  tendered  in  payment,  the 
instrument  must  be  redeemed  at  its  face  value.  If  the 
script  is  not  payable  on  sight,  it  must  carry  eight  per  cent 
interest  on  the  sum  due.  No  employer  may  withhold  any 
part  of  the  wages  as  a  fine,  nor  may  a  railroad  keep  back 
pay  for  the  support  of  a  hospital,  reading  room,  library, 
gymnasium,  or  restaurant.  A  large  class  of  employers  is 
forbidden  to  compel  their  employees  to  purchase  supplies  of 
any  particular  person,  or  to  sell  to  their  own  employees  at 
prices  higher  than  they  charge  others.  These  statutes  are 
designed  to  prevent  the  abuse  so  prevalent  in  the  past,  of 
compelling  hands  to  buy  their  goods  from  the  "company 
store"  at  outrageous  prices.  Under  the  "company  store" 
system,  combined  with  payment  in  checks  that  may  be 
cashed  only  at  these  shops,  in  some  states  today  employees 
are  continually  in  debt  to  their  employers,  and  they  cannot 
seek  a  better  job  without  running  in  danger  of  the  law. 
Finally,  the  miners  of  coal,  when  paid  by  weight,  are  allowed 
to  employ  a  check-weighman,  to  see  that  all  measuring  is 
fairly  done.  Disputes  between  this  check-weighman  and 
the  mine-weighman  are  to  be  settled  by  the  state  mine  in- 
spector. 

The  laws  just  enumerated  protect  the  workman  in  his 
dealings  with  his  immediate  employer,  but  there  are  other 
important  statutes  which  protect  him  from  third  parties. 
In  the  first  place,  debts  to  persons  for  mechanical  or  manual 
labor  are  claims  to  be  preferred  before  any  other  except 
legitimate  costs  and  expenses  in  cases  of  receivership. 
Wages  up  to  fifty  dollars  for  work  within  two  months  of 
his  death  are  among  the  preferred  claims  against  the  estate 
of  a  decedent,  but  in  this  case  they  are  payable  after  ex- 
penses of  administration,  expenses  of  the  funeral  and  of  the 
last  illness,  taxes,  and  secured  debts.  Second,  future  wages 
may  not  be  assigned  for  a  longer  period  than  thirty  days, 
and  then  only  upon  written  notice  to  the  employer  and  for- 
mal consent  of  the  wife  of  a  married  man.  No  Indiana 


LABOR    LEGISLATION  113 

court  may  entertain  any  action  of  a  non-resident  for  gar- 
nishment of  wages,  and  garnishment  is  not  allowed  for  any 
cause  for  amounts  up  to  twenty-five  dollars  at  any  one  time 
in  case  of  a  householding  employee.  At  nearly  every  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature  attempts  are  made  to  allow  the  gar- 
nishment of  wages,  but  they  are  strenuously  opposed  by  the 
employees,  and  are  not  favored  by  employers,  because  a 
man  who  is  not  going  to  receive  a  decent  wage  will  not  be 
likely  to  put  much  enthusiasm  into  his  work.  If  it  is  im- 
possible to  garnish  or  assign  wages,  the  thriftless  workman 
is  less  likely  to  go  into  debt,  because  his  creditors  are  sure 
that  they  cannot  be  certain  of  recoupment,  and,  consequent- 
ly, will  hesitate  to  loan  large  amounts  if,  indeed,  they  will 
lend  at  all.  In  other  words,  this  prohibition  of  garnishment 
and  assignment  of  wages  protects  the  wage  earner  from 
himself. 

Employment  Bureaus. 

The  state  not  only  protects  the  workingman  in  the  en- 
joyment of  what  he  has  actually  earned,  it  also  tries  to  help 
him  find  work.  The  private  employment  agencies  had  com- 
mitted many  abuses.  So  in  1909  a  law  was  passed  which 
compels  them  to  pay  a  license  fee,  to  give  bond  for  honest 
operation,  to  charge  applicants  for  positions  no  fee  exceed- 
ing ten  per  cent  of  the  first  month's  wages,  to  print  the  law 
regarding  employment  agencies  on  the  back  of  the  receipt 
for  the  fee  in  order  that  the  patron  may  know  that  he  has 
certain  legal  protection,  to  refund  on  demand  fees  of  appli- 
cants for  whom  positions  have  not  been  secured,  and  finally, 
to  keep  a  register  of  applicants.  *Some  of  these  institutions 
had  actually  failed  to  record  the  names  of  those  who  had 
paid  them  for  aid  in  finding  work. 

But  it  was  feared  that  no  amount  of  supervision  could 
make  the  private  agencies  what  they  ought  to  be,  so  Indiana 
followed  the  example  of  a  number  of  the  more  progressive 
commonwealths  and  established  free  public  employment  of- 
fices. The  main  office  is  in  the  State  House  at  Indianapolis, 
and  branches  are  at  Evansville,  Fort  Wayne,  Terre  Haute, 
and  South  Bend.  In  the  first  five  years  of  their  existence, 
these  offices  received  26,314  applications  for  work  and  25,472 
applications  for  help,  and  they  placed  18,076  individuals.  It 
is  impossible  to  find  on  the  list  of  applicants  persons  fitted 
to  fill  some  of  the  positions  offered.  The  great  field  of  this 

*The  law  does  not  apply  to  teachers'  agencies. 


114  INDIANA 

bureau  is  in  finding  work  where  little  or  no  skill  is  required. 
In  the  quarter  ending  March  31,  1914,  for  example,  of  249 
who  were  placed,  one  hundred  were  laborers,  thirty-two 
farm  and  dairy  hands,  twenty-two  handy  men,  and  sixteen 
dishwashers  and  kitchen  workers.  The  next  largest  group 
is  that  of  carpenters  and  cabinet  makers,  of  whom  eleven 
were  placed.  Further  statistics  would  be  tedious,  but  they 
would  show  that  in  Indiana  as  elsewhere  the  vast  prepon- 
derance of  the  activity  of  free  employment  bureaus  is  for 
the  benefit  of  the  unskilled. 

Arbitration  and  Conciliation. 

For  a  long  time  there  was  upon  the  statute  books  a  law 
providing  for  a  Labor  Commission  of  two  members  who 
were  to  visit  the  scene  of  any  labor  trouble,  to  endeavor  to 
bring  the  parties  together  for  conference,  or  to  induce  them 
to  arbitrate  their  differences.  This  act,  however,  was  ab- 
solutely ineffective.  No  one  seemed  to  have  confidence  in 
its  satisfactory  operation,  so  in  1911  the  Commission  quietly 
gave  up  the  ghost.  The  strikes  in  Indianapolis  in  1913 
made  it  evident  that  some  attempt  must  be  made  to  provide 
for  the  peaceable  settlement  of  labor  disputes,  and  the  1915 
general  assembly  made  another  effort.  Under  this  statute 
if  a  controversy  arises  that  involves  mbre  than  fifty  em- 
ployees, the  Governor  may  appoint  a  board  of  three  mem- 
bers, none  of  whom  is  directly  interested  in  the  controversy ; 
this  he  may  do  either  by  request  or  upon  by  own  initiative. 
The  members  of  this  board  are  to  receive  ten  dollars  per 
day,  their  expenses,  and  such  clerical  aid  as  is  necessary. 
This  board  is  to  establish  communication  with  the  parties 
to  the  controversy,  and  is  to  endeavor  to  bring  them  to- 
gether on  grounds  mutually  satisfactory,  or,  failing  in  this, 
to  induce  them  to  arbitrate.  If  neither  of  these  attempts 
succeeds,  the  board  must  conduct  an  investigation,  and,  in 
order  that  this  inquiry  may  be  more  than  a  farce,  the  board 
has  power  to  subpoena  witnesses,  to  compel  testimony,  and 
to  demand  the  production  of  books.  The  findings  are  to  be 
filed  with  each  of  the  disputants  and  with  the  governor,  and 
they  are  to  be  published.  Thus  it  is  hoped  that  public 
opinion  can  be  brought  to  bear  to  force  a  settlement  when 
intervention  fails.  Under  a  strong  and  tactful  governor 
there  is  no  doubt  that  a  great  deal  more  may  be  accomplish- 
ed under  this  law  than  under  the  old  one,  yet  it  is  hardly 
to  be  hoped  that  the  state  will  be  freed  from  strikes. 


LABOR    LEGISLATION  115 

Miscellaneous  Labor  Laws. 

The  Indiana  laws  forbid  certain  forms  of  boycotting 
and  of  blacklisting,  but  the  courts  have  so  weakened  the 
prohibition  of  the  blacklist  that  it  is  practically  inoperative. 
Some  measure  of  protection  is  afforded  the  working  man  by 
the  act  of  1915  which  requires  every  employer  who  asks 
written  recommendations  to  furnish  a  former  employee  up- 
on written  application  a  true  statement  of  his  reason  for 
leaving. 

It  is  illegal  for  the  employer  to  attempt  to  coerce  his 
employee  to  vote,  or  to  vote  in  any  particular  way  by  threats 
of  retention  of  wages  or  of  discharge,  and,  in  addition,  the 
employee  must  be  permitted  to  vote. 

It  is  illegal  for  any  one  to  pay  the  transportation  of  an 
alien,  or  to  contract  for  the  employment  of  an  alien.  This 
is  an  old  law  aimed  to  prevent  the  practice  of  importing 
foreign  labor  willing  to  work  for  very  low  wages,  a  practice 
which  tended  strongly  to  undermine  the  pay  of  the  native 
workers. 

The  Industrial  Board. 

The  new  Workmen's  Compensation  Law  provided  for 
the  reorganization  of  the  old  Bureau  of  Inspection  which  is 
replaced  by  the  Industrial  Board.  This  non-partisan  body 
consists  of  three  members  appointed  by  the  Governor  at 
salaries  large  enough  to  tempt  fairly  good  men,  to  whom 
are  intrusted  the  inspection  of  factories,  boilers,  and  mines, 
the  collection  and  tabulation  of  accident  statistics,  and  the 
administration  of  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act.  This 
Board  began  its  work  in  the  summer  of  1915 ;  its  task  is  one 
requiring  both  tact  and  courage.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  its 
labors  will  meet  with  success  in  every  sense. 

Summary. 

From  this  sketch  of  the  labor  laws  of  Indiana,  it  can 
be  gathered  that  the  state  was  long  backward  in  properly 
providing  for  the  welfare  of  its  industrial  classes.  But  in 
the  last  half  dozen  years  great  improvements  have  been 
made.  Altho  there  are  still  many  gaps  in  the  law,  some  of 
which  have  been  indicated,  the  citizens  of  Indiana  may  be 
glad  that  during  the  last  years  of  its  first  century  of  state- 
hood, the  commonwealth  has  grappled  its  labor  problem 
with  a  new  vigor  that  promises  ultimate  success. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Government 


In  conditioning  the  happiness  of  the  people  of  a  state 
the  character  of  the  government  is  second  to  its  natural  re- 
sources alone.  Welfare  is  impossible  without  a  material 
basis  in  soil-fertility,  or  mineral  wealth,  or  rich  forests,  or 
favorable  climatic  conditions,  or  such  a  combination  of  these 
and  other  circumstances  as  will  reward  able  men  for  exer- 
tion. Just  as  a  wise  economy  of  human  energy  may  be 
fostered  by  unselfish  and  competent  statesmen  guiding  the 
affairs  of  the  commonwealth,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  may 
enterprise  be  hampered  and  discouraged  by  inefficiency,  in- 
dolence, or  corruption  of  the  officials.  It  is  fashionable  in 
certain  circles  to  declare  that,  in  a  republic,  the  people  are 
governed  exactly  as  they  deserve  to  be  ruled,  for  they  them- 
selves choose  the  officials.  It  is  every  bit  as  smart  in  other 
company  to  assert  that  the  great  mass  of  voters  is  woefully 
unable  to  express  its  real  desires,  because  popular  govern- 
ment is  conducted  under  a  constitutional  system  that  neces- 
sitates domination  by  a  few  individuals.  Since  there  seems 
to  be  a  large  element  of  truth  in  each  of  these  positions, 
this  chapter  will  contain  a  description  of  the  system  of  gov- 
ernment in  Indiana,  with  occasional  comments  on  its  ade- 
quacy to  the  needs  of  the  state,  the  next  will  take  up  the 
problem  of  public  finance,  and  a  third  will  deal  with  the 
question  of  constitutional  revision.  In  this  sketch  it  will  be 
impossible  to  touch  the  details  of  the  work  of  every  official ; 
that  would  be  dry  and,  perhaps,  unprofitable.  Attention 
will,  therefore,  be  directed  to  the  important  factors. 

Townships. 

Indiana  is  divided  into  ninety-two  counties  which,  in 
turn,  are  subdivided  into  townships.  Until  1899  the  entire 
local  government  of  the  unincorporated  Township  was  vest- 


GOVERNMENT  117 

ed  in  one  man,  the  Township  Trustee,  but  at  that  time  his 
power  was  somewhat  limited  by  the  creation  of  the  Advi- 
sory Board.  This  Board  consists  of  three  men  who  must 
be  freeholders  resident  in  the  township  and  who  are  elected 
at  large  for  a  term  of  four  years.  It  must  meet  annually  on 
the  first  Tuesday  in  September  to  consider  the  finances  of 
the  Township  for  the  next  year.  At  this  meeting,  after 
choosing  the  chairman  and  secretary,  the  Board  considers 
the  estimates  of  the  Township  Trustee,  which  he  must  have 
made  public  at  least  thirty  days  beforehand  in  order  that 
interested  taxpayers  may  appear  and  present  their  views 
concerning  expenditures.  The  budget  submitted  at  this 
meeting  by  the  Trustee  must  be  detailed,  and  its  author 
must  be  ready  more  fully  to  explain  any  item  not  satisfac- 
tory or  not  clear  to  the  Board.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
discussion  the  Board  adopts,  either  intact  or  in  amended 
form,  the  budget  submitted  by  the  Trustee  and  officially 
proceeds  to  set  the  tax  rate  necessary  to  provide  the  ap- 
propriated funds.  This  action  is  then  certified  to  the  Coun- 
ty Auditor  in  order  that  the  County  Treasurer  may  collect 
the  assessments.  When  these  appropriations  have  been 
made,  the  Township  Trustee  may  not  use  funds  voted  for 
one  purpose  in  any  other  way.  If  an  appropriation  is  proven 
inadequate,  or  if  a  particular  emergency  is  encountered,  a 
special  meeting  of  the  Board  may  be  called.  At  this  special 
meeting  the  Board  may  vote  to  borrow  the  money  necessary 
for  the  work.  If  the  loan  is  small,  it  may  be  repaid  from 
the  proceeds  of  the  next  tax  levy,  but  if  it  is  too  large  for 
such  elimination,  bonds  may  be  issued  to  run  not  more  than 
fifteen  years  and  to  bear  not  over  six  per  cent  interest.  On 
the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  January  the 
Trustee  must  report  under  oath  on  his  administration  of 
funds  the  preceding  calendar  year.  When  this  report  has 
been  adopted  by  the  Board  it  is  filed  with  the  County  Audi- 
tor and  an  abstract  published,  that  all  citizens  may  see  it 
without  exercising  their  right  to  inspect  the  complete  docu- 
ment. So,  thru  its  absolute  power  over  expenditures  the 
Advisory  Board  is  the  real  government  of  the  Township. 

In  spite  of  this  recent  development  of  the  Advisory 
Board,  the  Township  Trustee  is  an  officer  of  large  powers 
and  responsibilities.  He  is  elected  by  the  voters  to  be  the 
main  executive  of  the  community  for  a  term  of  four  years. 
He  receives  the  township  funds  collected  by  the  County 


118  INDIANA 

Treasurer,  and  he  must  account  for  their  expenditure.  He 
exercises  supervision  over  the  property  of  the  Township, 
and,  whenever  necessary,  he  may  appoint  an  attorney  for 
its  defense  at  law.  In  his  township  the  Trustee  is  ex-officio 
inspector  of  elections,  fence  viewer,  and  overseer  of  the 
poor,  and  he  has  almost  complete  control  of  the  schools. 
Finally,  he  exercises  supervision  over  the  District  Road  Su- 
pervisors, as  he  until  a  few  years  ago  controlled  the  Town- 
ship Road  Supervisor.  For  all  these  services  the  Town- 
ship Trustee  is  allowed  pay  at  the  rate  of  only  two  dol- 
lars a  day  while  he  is  actually  at  work  on  official  business, 
unless  the  population  of  the  Township  is  twenty-five  thou- 
sand or  more,  when  the  remuneration  may  be  larger.  The 
salary  increases  in  an  irregular  way  with  the  increase  in  the 
size  of  the  township  to  a  maximum  of  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars  a  year.  From  this  description  of  his  powers  and 
duties  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  money  inducement  is  not 
sufficient  to  command  the  services  of  a  man  competent  to 
determine  the  policy  of  the  schools  and  to  select  well-trained 
teachers,  competent  to  attend  to  that  serious  problem,  the 
handling  of  the  poor,  competent  to  direct  the  care  of  the 
roads,  and  competent  to  exercise  discretion  in  the  expending 
of  large  funds.  Some  men  of  real  power  and  ability  have 
been  attracted  to  the  office,  but  on  the  whole  the  incumbents 
are  unequal  to  the  responsibility. 

The  determination  of  justice  within  the  Township  is 
entrusted  to  Justices  of  the  Peace.  The  County  Commis- 
sioners determine  the  number  of  these  officials,  but  they 
may  not  allow  more  than  two  to  a  township,  unless  the  com- 
munity contains  an  incorporated  town,  in  which  case  an  ad- 
ditional Justice  may  be  allotted  for  each  incorporated  place. 
These  Justices,  who  must  open  their  offices  every  day,  have 
jurisdiction  in  suits  on  contract  or  for  damages  by  tort  for 
sums  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  altho  it  is  possible  to 
confess  judgment  up  to  three  hundred  dollars  before  them. 
They  may  compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses  and  conduct 
trials  by  jury  if  a  party  to  the  suit  demands  it.  These 
juries  are  to  consist  of  six  men,  unless  both  litigants  con- 
sent to  a  smaller  number.  On  the  decision  of  a  case  the 
Justice  may  issue  an  execution.  To  assist  the  Justice  of 
the  Peace  a  Constable  is  elected  once  in  four  years.  This 
officer  must  serve  all  processes  legally  put  into  his  hands, 
levy  executions,  pay  over  to  its  rightful  owner  money  col- 


GOVERNMENT  119 

lected  on  writ,  and  make  arrests.  He  is  conservator  of  the 
peace,  and  so  he  may  take  into  custody  anyone  whom  he 
catches  in  the  act  of  breaking  the  law. 

Towns. 

Because  the  need  for  governmental  activity  in  the  open 
country  is  small  the  form  of  government  for  townships  is 
simple  and  is  not  entrusted  with  very  wide  powers.  There- 
fore, as  population  collects  in  one  spot,  and  as  the  needs  for 
sidewalks,  street  lights,  protection  against  nuisances,  and 
other  community  activities  consequently  develop,  a  more 
elaborate  system  of  supervision  is  demanded.  When  the 
people  realize  this  necessity  they  may  file  with  the  County 
Commissioners  a  petition  for  the  incorporation  of  a  Town. 
If  the  County  Board  is  satisfied  that  this  document  is  signed 
by  one-third  of  the  qualified  voters,  including  one-third  of 
the  freeholders  residing  in  the  area  proposed  for  the  town, 
they  must  hold  an  election  in  this  district  to  determine  the 
question  by  ballot.  By  a  favorable  majority  the  Town  is 
Incorporated,  and  it  is  at  once  divided  into  not  less  than 
three  and  not  more  than  seven  wards.  From  each  ward  a 
Trustee  is  elected  once  in  four  years,  but  the  terms  are  so 
arranged  that  approximately  one-half  are  elected  each  two 
years.  The  Town  Board  of  Trustees  has  the  supervision  of 
the  property  of  the  town,  and  the  care  and  regulation  of  the 
streets.  That  is,  it  may  prescribe  the  conditions  under 
which  railways  and  interurbans  cross  or  use  the  streets,  it 
may  set  reasonable  speed  limits,  contract  for  street  lighting, 
require  licenses  of  peddlers,  compel  the  construction  of 
sidewalks,  and  appoint  a  Street  Commissioner.  The  Board 
has  limited  power  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  town;  it 
may  appoint  a  Fire  Chief,  it  has  authority  to  compel  citi- 
zens to  aid  in  fighting  fire,  and  it  can  lawfully  organize  fire 
companies  and  regulate  the  use  and  storage  of  combustibles. 
The  Trustees  may  also  secure  the  comfort  of  the  inhabitants 
by  defining  and  abating  nuisances,  by  restraining  the  run- 
ning abroad  of  fowls  and  animals,  by  regulating  or  even 
erecting  slaughterhouses,  and  by  planting  trees  or  making 
parks.  Finally,  they  have  some  moral  supervision,  as  they 
may  license  the  sale  of  liquor,  prevent  vice  and  immorality, 
and  enact  ordinances  imposing  penalties  not  exceeding  ten 
dollars.  To  make  possible  the  government  of  the  towns  the 
Board  has  power  to  levy  taxes  on  property  and  to  tax  each 


120  INDIANA 

poll  twenty-five  cents,  each  male  dog  one  dollar,  and  each 
female  dog  two  dollars.  An  additional  tax  of  twenty-five 
cents  per  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  property  may  be  levied 
for  the  purpose  of  street  improvements,  and  bonds  may  be 
issued  to  finance  the  erection  of  public  buildings.  For  other 
purposes  debts  may  be  contracted  only  by  authority  of  a 
petition  of  a  majority  of  the  resident  owners  of  real  estate. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Township,  the  taxes  are  collected 
by  the  County  Treasurer  and  turned  over  to  the  Town 
Treasurer  who  can  disburse  the  funds  only  on  the  order  of 
the  Trustees.  The  man  who  is  Treasurer  may  also  be  Town. 
Clerk,  and  in  that  capacity  he  may  act  as  secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  voting  only  in  the  case  of  a  tie.  The 
Marshal  is  the  third  of  the  town  officers.  He  serves  as 
Chief  of  Police,  and  he  may  be  appointed  to  act  as  Fire 
Chief  and  Street  Commissioner  if  the  Board  sees  fit.  These 
three  officers,  Treasurer,  Clerk,  and  Marshal,  are  elected  for 
terms  of  two  years  each.  The  schools  of  the  town  may  be 
left  in  the  hands  of  the  Township  Trustee,  but  are  usually 
put  in  charge  of  three  School  Trustees  elected  by  the  Town 
Board. 

This  survey  shows  two  things.  First,  the  machinery 
of  government  in  the  Town  is  considerably  more  complicated 
than  in  the  Township,  more  administrative  specialization 
being  possible  and  a  larger  body  being  given  financial  power. 
Second,  the  Town  government  is  far  more  powerful  for 
good  or  for  evil  than  is  the  Township  government.  Both  of 
these  changes  are  natural  results  of  the  increased  density 
of  population  in  a  small  area. 

Cities. 

But  as  the  population  continues  to  agglomerate,  the 
powers  of  the  Town  officers  become  inadequate  for  the  en- 
larged demands  of  the  community.  Not  only  does  the  mere 
routine  business  become  too  great  for  the  physical  capacity 
of  such  officials  as  the  Marshal  and  the  Street  Commission- 
er, but  the  ordinance  power  of  the  Trustees  also  is  inade- 
quate to  cope  with  many  new  problems.  So  it  has  been 
provided  that  one-third  of  the  voters  of  any  incorporated 
town  may  petition  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  incorporation 
as  a  City.  If  the  last  census  showed  the  town  to  be  inhab- 
ited by  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  persons,  or  if  a  special 
census  returns  a  population  of  two  thousand,  the  Trustees, 


GOVERNMENT  121 

must  submit  the  question  to  popular  vote.  If  a  majority  of 
the  ballots  are  in  favor  of  the  change,  the  Town  becomes  a 
City  without  further  formality.  The  new  City  must  at 
once  be  divided  into  wards  not  less  than  three  in  number, 
but  having  at  least  three  hundred  inhabitants  in  each.  The 
ward  lines  may  not  be  altered  of tener  than  once  in  six  years 
unless  an  annexation  of  territory  necessitates  the  readjust- 
ment and  unless  two-thirds  of  the  City  Council  vote  for  the 
change. 

The  cities  are  divided  into  five  different  classes,  mainly 
according  to  their  population  at  the  most  recent  United 
States  Census.  Indianapolis  is  the  only  city  of  the  first 
class,  as  it  is  the  only  one  having  a  population  over  one  hun- 
dred thousand.  To  be  a  city  of  the  second  class  a  popula- 
tion of  thirty-five  thousand,  but  less  than  one  hundred 
thousand,  is  necessary,  unless  a  municipality  having  not  less 
than  sixteen  nor  more  than  thirty-five  thousand  inhabitants 
and  taxable  property  worth  at  least  twenty  million  dollars, 
decides  by  majority  vote  to  become  a  second  class  city. 
Under  the  old  law,  Evansville,  Fort  Wayne,  South  Bend,  and 
Terre  Haute  were  second  class  cities.  The  alternative  pro- 
vision was  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1915  for 
for  the  accommodation  of  Gary.  Anderson,  Hammond,  La- 
fayette, Muncie,  New  Albany,  and  Richmond  are  the  cities 
of  the  third  class,  as  they  have  populations  of  not  less  than 
twenty  thousand,  but  less  than  thirty-five  thousand.  In 
the  fourth  class  are  the  cities  having  ten  thousand,  but 
fewer  than  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  having,  also, 
taxable  property  of  at  least  five  million  dollars  value,  and 
also  cities  having  less  than  ten  thousand  population,  pro- 
vided their  taxable  property  in  1913  was  worth  seven  and  a 
half  million  dollars.  The  fourth  class  cities  are  East  Chi- 
cago, Elkhart,  Elwood,  Gary,  Huntington,  Jeffersonville, 
Kokomo,  Laporte,  Logansport,  Marion,  Michigan  City,  Mish- 
awaka,  Peru,  and  Vincennes.  All  other  cities,  namely, 
those  having  less  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants  and  those 
having  less  than  twenty  thousand  inhabitants  and  also  less 
than  five  million  dollars  worth  of  assessed  property,  are  in 
the  fifth  class.  It  is  a  fact  worth  noticing  that  only  four 
cities  of  the  first  four  classes,  Evansville,  New  Albany,  Jef- 
fersonville, and  Vincennes,  are  located  south  of  a  line  drawn 
from  Richmond  to  Terre  Haute. 

As  the  City  grows  in  population  or  in  commerce,  per- 


122  INDIANA 

sons  are  likely  to  attempt  to  escape  from  its  high  taxes  or 
from  its  restrictions  by  placing  their  residences  and  factor- 
ies just  without  the  corporate  limits.  The  result  is  that 
owners  of  property  who  are  enjoying  practically  all  of  the 
advantages  of  the  city,  escape  bearing  their  share  of  the 
burdens  of  government.  The  law  therefore  allows  adjacent 
territory  to  be  annexed  by  the  City  Council,  if  published  no- 
tice is  given  two  weeks  in  advance  of  final  action.  The  only 
defense  of  the  citizens  on  the  land  which  the  Council  pro- 
poses to  annex  lies  in  the  privilege  of  one  or  more  persons 
who  feel  themselves  aggrieved.  They  may  petition  the 
Circuit  Court  or  the  Superior  Court  that  has  jurisdiction. 
Then,  if  three-quarters  of  the  property  owners  in  unplatted 
territory  sought  by  the  City  or  two-thirds  of  the  voters  in 
an  incorporated  place  sign  a  protest,  the  court  may  prevent 
the  annexation,  unless  it  is  necessary  for  the  prosperity  of 
the  City.  The  municipality  must  take  over  the  public  debts 
of  the  land  it  annexes.  By  a  majority  vote  of  the  voters  in 
any  two  or  more  incorporated  places,  they  may  merge. 
Thus  it  is  possible  for  a  city  to  grow  territorially  as  its  needs 
develop. 

In  the  City  the  legislative  power  is  vested  in  a  Council. 
In  Indianapolis  this  council  consists  of  nine  members.  The 
City  is  divided  into  six  councilmanic  districts,  and  no  poli- 
tical party  may  nominate  more  than  one  candidate  from  any 
one  district.  The  voter  may  cast  his  ballot  for  nine  men. 
Thus  it  is  assured  that  not  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
members  of  the  Council  will  be  chosen  from  among  the  can- 
didates of  the  same  party,  and  the  City  is  given  what  is 
known  as  a  "bipartisan"  government.  In  other  cities  one 
councilman  is  elected  from  each  ward  and  other  councilmen 
equal  in  number  to  half  the  number  of  wards  are  elected 
at  large,  but  there  may  be  not  fewer  than  two  nor  more  than 
six  councilmen-at-large.  The  City  Council  must  meet  at 
least  once  a  month,  but  it  usually  assembles  more  frequent- 
ly. In  cities  of  the  first  and  second  classes  the  Council 
elects  its  own  presiding  officer,  but  in  the  other  municipal- 
ities the  Mayor  presides.  The  City  Clerk  is  also  Clerk  of 
the  Council.  If  the  Mayor  refuses  to  sign  any  ordinance  it 
may  be  passed  over  his  veto  by  a  two-thirds  vote.  So  the 
necessity  for  his  signature  is  a  real  check  upon  the  Council. 
There  is  another  check,  namely,  the  fact  that  no  ordinance 
may  be  passed  at  the  meeting  at  which  it  is  introduced,  ex- 


GOVERNMENT  123 

cept  by  unanimous  consent.  The  City  Council  possesses  all 
the  powers  of  the  Town  Board  with  some  additions.  For 
instance,  it  may  impose  penalties  not  exceeding  three  hun- 
dred dollars  and  six  months  imprisonment  for  violation  of 
its  ordinances;  but  the  Council  must  have  published  the 
proposed  ordinance  twice  before  it  can  be  effective.  The 
Council  may  very  strictly  regulate  buildings  both  by  setting 
fire  limits  within  which  all  structures  have  to  conform  to 
certain  standards  and  by  requiring  permits  for  additions, 
alterations,  or  erections.  It  may  exercise  jurisdiction  over 
streams  for  ten  miles  beyond  the  corporate  limits  and  for 
four  miles  over  certain  classes  of  factories  which  are  likely 
to  create  nuisances — glue,  tallow,  and  soap  works,  for  ex- 
ample. The  Council's  health  powers  are  considerably  more 
extensive  than  those  of  the  Town  Board,  for  it  may  regulate 
the  keeping  and  removal  of  garbage  and  other  wastes,  hav- 
ing jurisdiction  in  this  particular  for  four  miles  beyond  the 
city  bounds ;  it  may  regulate  cemeteries  and  interments,  es- 
tablish quarantine  rules,  require  the  registration  of  births, 
deaths,  and  diseases,  authorize  the  inspection  and  con- 
demnation of  foods,  and  insist  upon  the  inspection  of  pipes, 
drains,  and  wires.  Again,  the  City  Council  has  extensive 
powers  to  regulate  by  license  or  otherwise  such  businesses 
as  the  operation  of  hand  organs  or  the  rendering  of  music 
in  the  streets,  the  conduct  of  lumber  yards,  letting  wharves, 
furnishing  amusements,  peddling,  pawn-brokerage,  the 
transfer  of  baggage  and  passengers,  the  keeping  of  inns  and 
restaurants;  the  sale  and  manufacture  of  intoxicating  liq- 
uors (the  license  fee  of  a  saloon  being  limited  to  $250  and 
that  of  a  brewery  or  distillery  to  $1,000),  the  keeping  of 
second-hand  and  junk  shops,  and  the  sale  of  milk.  Besides 
these  possibilities  of  collective  protection  the  Council  may 
provide  for  the  inspection  of  weights  and  measures,  of  boil- 
ers, and  of  elevators;  it  may  prevent  reckless  driving  and 
control  the  use  of  streets  and  bridges;  and  it  may  prevent 
or  regulate  the  use  of  fire  arms.  So  the  Council  enjoys  a 
large  range  of  powers,  but  none  which  is  not  necessary  for 
the  welfare  of  the  citizens. 

As  the  City  Council  is  more  powerful  than  the  Town 
Board  of  Trustees,  so,  also,  are  the  City  officers  more  numer- 
ous and  more  potent.  At  the  head  of  the  administration 
is  the  Mayor,  who,  like  the  Councilmen  and  the  other  offi- 
cials, is  elected  for  a  term  of  four  years.  It  is  his  privilege 


124  INDIANA 

to  call  special  meetings  of  the  Council  when  necessary,  to 
make  recommendations  to  that  body,  to  appoint  successors 
to  councilmen  who  retire  before  the  expiration  of  their 
terms,  and  to  sign  or  veto  the  measures  passed  by  the  Coun- 
cil. These  may  be  called  his  legislative  functions.  As  an 
executive  he  appoints  the  heads  of  departments  in  cities  of 
the  first  four  classes,  and  names,  in  cities  of  the  fifth  class, 
the  Marshal,  the  Fire  Chief,  and  the  Street  Commissioner. 
Whom  he  appoints  to  administrative  position  he  may  also 
remove.  Furthermore,  he  exercises  a  general  supervision 
over  the  work  of  the  departments,  signs  bonds,  deeds,  and 
licenses  issued  by  the  City,  and  is  obligated  to  execute  and 
enforce  ordinances  and  laws.  The  Council  of  cities  of  the 
fourth  class  may  require  the  Mayor  to  act  as  City  Judge, 
and  this  judicial  work  is  one  of  his  regular  tasks  in  fifth 
class  cities. 

The  Mayor  has  a  general  colleague  in  the  City  Clerk, 
who  acts  as  the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  and  keeps  records  of 
ordinances  passed.  This  official  may  be  required,  in  third 
class  cities,  to  act  as  Controller,  and  in  cities  of  the  third 
and  fourth  classes  he  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Public 
Works. 

In  cities  of  the  first  four  classes,  the  details  of  the  ad- 
ministration are  entrusted  to  the  Executive  Departments, 
which  develop  their  own  rules  of  procedure.  The  most  im- 
portant of  all  of  these  is  the  Department  of  Finance,  under 
the  Controller.  This  officer  prescribes  the  forms  of  ac- 
counting in  all  departments  and  audits  their  accounts,  keep- 
ing a  separate  record  of  each  fund,  whether  a  trust  or  an 
appropriation,  and  he  countersigns  all  warrants.  He  must 
refuse  to  validate  a  warrant  if  there  are  not  in  the  city 
treasury  funds  to  meet  it.  He  is  commissioned  to  audit  the 
accounts  of  the  City  Treasurer,  and  to  examine  the  county 
tax  duplicate,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  the  City,  in  order  to 
detect  any  omissions.  In  addition  to  these  duties,  he  is  the 
official  who  actually  issues  licenses.  Another  important  re- 
sponsibility of  the  Controller  arises  from  his  part  in  the 
preparation  of  the  budget.  This  document  is  worked  out 
at  a  meeting  of  the  heads  of  the  departments,  at  which  each 
forecasts  his  own  needs,  and  the  Controller  supplies  the  es- 
timate for  the  general  funds.  Then  the  Controller  submits 
the  budget  to  the  Mayor,  who  hands  it  on  to  the  Council 
with  his  recommendation.  Thereupon,  before  the  first 


GOVERNMENT  125 

Monday  of  September  of  each  year,  the  Council  makes  the 
appropriations  and  fixes  the  tax  rate.  When  bonds  are  is- 
sued by  the  authority  of  the  Council,  it  is  the  Controller 
who  attends  to  all  the  details  of  their  preparation,  sale,  and 
registration.  Also  he  is  one  of  the  three  sinking  fund 
commissioners  who  have  custody  of  the  money  accumulated 
to  meet  the  debt  when  it  falls  due.  In  cities  of  the  fourth 
class  the  office  of  Controller  may  be  abolished  by  the  Coun- 
cil; in  cities  of  the  third  class  the  Clerk  acts  as  Controller, 
unless  the  Council  votes  to  have  a  separate  Controller. 
With  all  these  powers  it  would  seem  that  the  Controller  is 
one  of  the  most  important  officers  in  the  whole  of  the  city 
government.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  being  appointed  by  the 
Mayor,  he  must  obey  that  official's  behests  or  run  the  risk 
of  losing  his  position.  So  it  comes  about  that  the  Controller 
is  not  usually  a  potent  factor. 

Perhaps  most  intimately  connected  with  the  Depart- 
ment of  Finance  is  the  Department  of  Assessment  and  Col- 
lection under  the  City  Treasurer.  In  county  seat  cities,  the 
County  Treasurer  is  also  City  Treasurer,  except  in  the  case 
of  certain  cities  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  classes  which  own 
public  utilities  of  a  considerable  value.  Then  the  fact  that 
so  many  small  transactions  have  to  be  attended  to  makes  it 
permissible  for  these  cities  to  have  their  own  official.  In  the 
larger  cities  the  Board  of  Public  Works  relieves  the  Treas- 
urer of  this  part  of  his  business.  The  Treasurer  is  merely 
a  custodian  who  receives  the  city  funds  from  the  County 
Treasurer  and  from  the  patrons  of  public  utilities  in  certain 
cities,  and  who  pays  out  cash  upon  the  presentation  of 
properly  signed  warrants. 

The  City  Attorney  is  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of 
Law.  He  is  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  except  in  cities  of  the 
fifth  class,  where  he  is  elected  by  the  Council.  He  is  oblig- 
ed to  furnish  legal  advice  to  the  other  city  officers  and  to 
represent  the  City  in  its  suits. 

The  Board  of  Public  Works  is  one  of  the  most  important 
departments.  In  cities  of  the  first,  second,  and  third  classes 
it  is  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  and  not  more  than  two  of  the 
three  members  may  be  of  the  same  political  party;  but  in 
cities  of  the  third  class  the  Council  is  commissioned  to  per- 
form the  duties  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  unless  it 
passes  an  ordinance  providing  for  the  appointment  of  the 
Board;  and  in  cities  of  the  fourth  class  the  Board  is  com- 


126  INDIANA 

posed  of  the  Mayor,  the  City  Engineer,  and  one  other  mem- 
ber appointed  by  the  Mayor.  This  Board  has  charge  of  the 
purchase  and  the  management  of  real  estate  and  other 
property  of  the  city;  it  keeps  records  of  the  location  of 
pipes,  conduits,  and  drains  in  the  streets  and  alleys;  it 
cleans,  lights,  sprinkles,  and  maintains  the  highways;  it 
looks  after  the  disposal  of  garbage,  sewage,  and  other 
wastes;  it  sees  that  the  water  courses  are  kept  clear,  that 
the  water  may  promptly  be  carried  off;  it  contracts  with 
private  companies  to  supply  water,  gas,  electric  light,  tele- 
phone service,  heat,  and  power  to  the  City  and  to  the  people, 
or  it  operates  municipal  plants ;  and  it  supervises  the  use  of 
the  streets  by  public  utilities.  In  cities  of  the  third  and 
fourth  classes  this  Board  of  Public  Works  has,  in  addition, 
the  duties  of  the  Board  of  Public  Safety. 

The  Board  of  Public  Safety,  whether  separate,  as  in 
cities  of  the  first  and  second  classes,  or  combined  with  the 
Board  of  Public  Works,  as  in  cities  of  the  third  and  fourth 
classes,  consists  of  three  members  appointed  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  Board  of  Public  Works.  It  has  supervision 
of  the  police  and  fire  systems,  of  buildings  and  boilers,  of 
markets  and  foods,  and  of  pounds  and  prisons.  In  cities 
having  at  least  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  however,  the 
Council  elects  three  Commissioners  of  the  Metropolitan  Po- 
lice and  Fire  Department,  who  exercise  complete  control  in 
these  fields.  Similar  commissions  may  be  chosen  in  cities 
with  a  population  of  ten  but  less  than  thirty-five  thousand. 

Cities  of  every  class  have  a  non-partisan  Board  of 
Health  and  Charities,  consisting  of  three  persons,  except  in 
Indianapolis  where  the  membership  is  four.  This  Board 
has  a  paid  Secretary  who  must  be  a  physician.  Its  task  is 
to  register  births,  deaths,  and  marriages,  to  furnish  ambu- 
lance service,  to  inspect  the  plumbing  and  drainage  in 
houses,  to  nominate  food  inspectors  for  appointment  by  the 
Board  of  Safety,  and  to  draft  ordinances  relating  to  health 
matters.  In  Indianapolis  this  Board  has  charge  of  the  play- 
grounds and  swimming  pools. 

A  City  Judge  is  elected,  except  in  cities  of  the  fifth  class 
where  the  Mayor  acts  in  that  capacity.  He  has  concurrent 
jurisdiction  with  the  Circuit  Court  in  cases  of  petit  larceny 
and  of  violation  of  State  law  entailing  a  penalty  under  five 
hundred  dollars  fine  or  six  months  imprisonment ;  otherwise 
his  functions  are  like  those  of  the  Justice  of  the  Peace. 


GOVERNMENT  127 

In  Indianapolis  there  is  an  additional  Department  of 
Parks,  but  in  other  cities  the  parks  are  under  the  care  of 
the  Board  of  Public  Works,  unless  committed  to  the  care  of 
trustees. 

Some  of  the  special  features  of  the  government  of  cities 
of  the  fifth  class  have  been  noted,  but  they  may  well  be 
enumerated  at  this  point.  Instead  of  the  departments  of 
the  other  cities,  these  municipalities  have  Marshals,  Fire 
Chiefs,  and  Street  Commissioners,  appointed  by  the  Mayors. 
In  a  fifth  class  city,  the  Mayor  acts  as  City  Judge,  the 
Council  serves  as  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  there  is  no 
Controller,  the  Council  instead  of  the  Mayor  selects  the  City 
Attorney,  and  there  is  no  Department  of  Public  Safety. 
Thus  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  simplify  the  government 
of  the  smaller  municipalities. 

In  every  city,  and  more  particularly  in  the  larger  ones, 
the  offices  are  valuable,  not  for  the  salaries,  which  ordinarily 
are  small,  nor  for  social  prestige,  as  scant  recognition  is 
given  the  politicians  by  cultured  circles,  but  for  power. 
Altho  its  power  has  been  lessened  by  the  creation  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  (in  1913),  it  is  possible  for  a 
city  government  to  pester  a  public  utility  almost  without 
limit  or  to  grant  it  favors  of  tremendous  value ;  it  is  possible 
to  make  life  miserable  for  some  manufacturers  or  to  allow 
them  with  impunity  to  violate  conservative  regulations;  it 
is  possible  to  enforce  the  laws  against  the  maintaining  of 
houses  of  ill-fame  and  the  gambling  dens  or  to  ignore  their 
existence;  it  is  possible  to  make  contracts  decently  favor- 
able to  the  city  and  to  enforce  their  terms  or  to  enter  agree- 
ments that  give  individuals  immense  profits  for  shabby 
work  that  will  need  extensive  repairs  within  a  few  years  and 
so  afford  additional  private  gain  at  public  expense.  In 
truth  there  are  many  ways  in  which  control  of  the  govern- 
ment of  a  city  may  be  made  highly  remunerative.  There- 
fore, m,en  are  found  who  can  obtain  a  handsome  living  by 
making  a  business  of  "owning"  a  city,  and  there  are  other 
men,  engaged  in  other  businesses,  who  find  it  well  worth 
while  to  increase  their  fortunes  by  purchasing,  directly  or 
indirectly,  the  favors  which  the  politicians  can  bestow  or 
withhold. 

Why  is  it  the  case  that  a  few  men  can  control  a  city? 
A  machine  can  always  count  on  the  fact  that  most  men  pin 
their  allegiance  to  an  object  which  is  absolutely  unworthy 


128  INDIANA 

of  loyalty, — to  a  political  party.  Because  a  man  believes  in 
free  trade  or  protection  he  is  almost  sure  to  vote  for  candi- 
dates whose  names  appear  under  certain  emblems  on  a  city 
ballot.  It  is  easy  to  see  why  a  politician  should  want  to 
foster  this  notion  that  there  is  a  connection  between  local 
and  national  parties;  no  man  who  dares  to  think,  however, 
will  be  misled  into  believing  that  his  loyalty  to  certain  prin- 
ciples, which  may  be  the  real  faith  or  which  may  be  the  lip 
creed  of  a  group  of  men  united  to  influence  national  affairs, 
necessitates  his  allegiance  to  the  same  group  in  their  muni- 
cipal operations.  Right  here  is  a  fact  which  is  often  lost 
sight  of.  Altho  the  national  parties  can  appeal  to  deep 
emotions  and  to  general  principles,  the  issues  which  they 
raise  are  of  comparatively  small  importance  when  placed 
beside  the  question  of  efficiency  in  municipal  government. 
Since  even  a  city  with  large  wealth  can  find  new  and  useful 
fields  for  profitable  collective  expenditure,  the  soundest 
business  judgment  is  needed  to  husband  the  resources  of 
municipalities;  yet  a  large  number  of  men  determine  their 
action  on  reasoning  pertinent  to  the  nation  rather  than  the 
city.  But  there  is  another  element,  the  element  that  may 
rightfully  claim  to  be  the  "independent  vote,"  the  element 
that  is  willing  to  sell  its  ballots.  It  is  these  men  whom  the 
expert  politician  can  well  handle.  It  is  probably  safe  to  say 
that  there  is  not  conducted  in  this  State  a  city  election  with- 
out some  sort  of  fraud,  the  buying  of  votes,  the  introduction 
of  floaters  or  repeaters,  or  the  falsification  of  the  returns  in 
some  manner  or  other.  Witness  the  facts  established  in 
1915  relative  to  Terre  Haute,  Indianapolis,  Muncie,  and  Ev- 
ansville.  The  situation  is  not  peculiar  to  Indiana,  but  is  a 
national  evil.  The  cities  are  corruptly  governed  because 
some  persons  can  gain  by  corruption  and  because  individual 
voters  are  blind  or  mercenary.  It  may  be  the  system,  or  it 
may  be  the  lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  voter  that  is 
to  blame  for  the  inefficiency  and  corruption  in  the  municipal 
government  of  Indiana.  It  may  be  the  fault  of  the  voter 
and  of  the  system  combined.  At  any  rate  this  can  be  said : 
The  State  law  now  imposes  on  all  the  cities  of  the  common- 
wealth practically  the  same  form  of  government.  Commis- 
sions and  single  managers  are  successfully  conducting  muni- 
cipalities in  other  states  and  in  Europe.  One  thing  can  be 
done,  the  cities  can  be  allowed  to  frame  their  own  constitu- 
tions, and  they  should  be  allowed  to  experiment  with  the 


GOVERNMENT  129 

other  plans  that  elsewhere  really  do  secure  efficiency.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  they  can  fall  into  anything  worse  than 
the  present  system. 

Counties. 

The  principal  governing  body  in  the  County  is  the 
Board  of  County  Commissioners.  The  County  is  divided 
into  three  districts  from  each  of  which  must  come  one  of 
this  Board.  The  term  of  office  is  three  years,  and  one  new 
man,  chosen  at  the  regular  election  by  the  voters  of  the  en- 
tire County,  enters  office  each  year.  The  County  Board,  al- 
tho  it  cannot  make  appropriations,  does  audit  the  accounts 
of  all  officers  having  charge  of  any  county  funds,  passes  on 
all  claims  against  the  County,  and  annually  draws  up  a  com- 
plete estimate  of  expenditures  for  the  coming  year.  This 
estimate  is  turned  over  to  the  County  Auditor,  and  by  him 
is  presented  to  the  County  Council.  The  Commissioners  al- 
so are  required  to  maintain  a  court  house  and  jail,  and  to 
provide  the  offices  for  the  county  officials.  They  receive  and 
pass  upon  petitions  for  changing  watercourses  and  improv- 
ing roads,  and  they  may  declare  a  stream  navigable.  They 
may  offer  bounties  on  animals  and  birds  that  are  supposed 
to  be  noxious  or  destructive,  and  they  may  aid  county  fairs 
by  the  ownership  of  fair  grounds  and  by  the  loaning  of 
money  to  the  Fair  Association.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
however,  that  no  money  may  be  spent  by  the  Board  without 
the  sanction  of  an  appropriation  by  the  Council.  The  Board 
has  one  other  function  that  is  important,  namely  the  judi- 
cial. When  the  Commissioners  sit  as  a  court  they  have  the 
power  of  keeping  order  just  as  an  ordinary  court.  Any 
decision  of  the  Board,  however,  is  subject  to  appeal  to  the 
Circuit  or  Superior  Court.  It  can,  nevertheless,  settle  the 
merits  of  a  good  many  cases  involving  county  business. 

Because  it  was  felt  that  some  check  upon  the  County 
Commissioners  was  needed,  the  County  Council  was  insti- 
tuted. This  body  consists  of  seven  men  elected  for  terms 
of  four  years;  three  of  them  represent  the  county  at  large 
and  the  other  four  are  chosen  by  four  councilmanic  districts. 
They  are  not  allowed  to  hold  any  State,  County,  Township, 
or  Municipal  office  while  serving  on  the  County  Council. 
Annually  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of 
September  they  meet  to  pass  upon  the  budget.  Before  the 
middle  of  August  every  county  officer  has  been  required  to 


130  INDIANA 

prepare  a  particularized  estimate  of  the  necessary  expenses 
of  his  department  for  the  coming  year.  These,  together 
with  the  estimate  of  the  Commissioners  and  of  the  Clerk  of 
the  Circuit  Court  are  submitted  by  the  Auditor  to  the  Coun- 
ty Council  in  the  form  of  an  ordinance  making  appropria- 
tions. After  consideration  the  Council  adopts  the  budget  for 
the  year,  but  it  has  no  power  to  insert  an  appropriation  not 
mentioned  in  the  estimates,  unless  three-fourths  of  the 
members  favor  such  an  expenditure.  If  the  appropriations 
made  in  this  budget  are  later  found  to  be  insufficient,  emer- 
gency appropriations  not  exceeding  an  aggregate  of  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  are  permitted.  The  Auditor,  who  acts  as 
Secretary  of  the  Council,  keeps  track  of  these  appropria- 
tions, and  pays  out  moneys  only  on  such  authorization;  no 
contract  is  binding  upon  the  County  unless  the  Council  has 
formally  approved  the  expenditure  involved.  After  the  out- 
lays have  been  determined  upon,  the  Council  sets  the  rate 
of  taxation.  In  case  it  is  necessary  for  the  County  to  bor- 
row money,  the  Council  m&y  authorize  the  loan  in  an  or- 
dinance stating  the  purpose  of  the  bonds.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  details  of  the  issue  are  left  to  the  Auditor. 

Of  all  the  county  officials  the  Auditor  has  the  most  re- 
sponsible position.  He  is  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Commission- 
ers and  of  the  Council;  his  order  alone  may  authorize  the 
Treasurer  to  pay  out  county  funds,  but  he  can  sign  this 
warrant  only  in  expending  appropriations  made  by  the 
Council,  except  in  the  case  of  money  due  the  State,  the 
School  Fund,  the  City  or  Township  funds,  and  a  few  other 
funds  where  there  is  small  chance  for  the  exercise  of  his 
personal  discretion,  and  where  the  money  does  not  really  be- 
long to  the  County.  He  is  in  close  touch  with  the  Treasurer, 
and  keeps  separate  accounts  for  all  appropriations  and 
funds.  The  Treasurer  is  a  little  more  than  a  mere  custo- 
dian, for  he  must  keep  books  to  show  the  condition  of  the 
different  funds,  and  he  must  refuse  to  pay  any  warrant  if 
no  money  is  available  for  the  specific  purpose  for  which  it  is 
drawn.  He  receives  the  proceeds  of  the  bonds  which  the 
Auditor  sells.  Moreover,  he  may  seize  personal  property 
and  sell  it  if  taxes  are  not  paid.  The  third  official  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  finances  is  the  County  Assessor. 
The  Township  Assessors  turn  in  their  reports  to  the  Audi- 
tor, and  from  him  the  County  Assessor  receives  them.  It 
is  his  duty  to  go  over  these  returns  and  to  try  to  locate 


GOVERNMENT  131 

omitted  or  sequestered  property.  He  then  reports  to  the 
Auditor  who  makes  up  the  Tax  Duplicate  and  hands  it  over 
to  the  Treasurer.  It  is  also  the  Assessor's  business  to  as- 
semble the  Township  Assessors  and  instruct  them  in  their 
duties.  These  three  men,  the  Auditor,  Treasurer,  and  As- 
sessor, with  two  freeholders  appointed  by  the  Judge  of  the 
Circuit  Court,  constitute  the  County  Board  of  Review,  which 
hears  complaints,  equalizes  valuations,  and  finally  approves 
every  assessment  in  the  County. 

There  are  several  other  County  officers  with  important 
duties.  The  Recorder  files  complete  lists  and  copies  of  all 
deeds,  mortgage  bonds,  and  indentures  of  apprenticeship. 
He  also  records  the  ear  marks  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs,  and 
the  brands  of  horses.  The  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  keeps 
all  the  court  records,  handles  money  in  connection  with  ju- 
dicial business,  maintains  lists  of  county  and  township  of- 
ficers, and  has  custody  of  their  bonds.  The  locations  of 
corners  made  by  the  Surveyor  are  officially  correct.  He 
files  the  field  notes  and  similar  papers  for  the  townships. 
The  Prosecuting  Attorney,  whose  constituency  is  not  the 
county,  but  the  judicial  circuit,  conducts  prosecutions  for 
felonies  and  misdemeanors  and  forfeited  bail,  in  the  name 
of  the  State.  He  resists  applications  for  change  of  names, 
protects  the  interests  of  persons  of  unsound  mind,  and  de- 
fends the  county  trust  funds,  if  they  become  legally  in- 
volved. The  Sheriff  can  suppress  a  breach  of  the  peace 
and  he  can  arrest  without  a  warrant,  persons  who  com- 
mit offenses  in  his  presence;  other  arrests  he  makes  by 
authority  of  a  warrant;  he  pursues  and  apprehends  fugi- 
tives, manages  the  county  jail  and  its  inmates,  and  attends 
court  and  serves  its  processes.  The  Coroner  has  all  the 
powers  of  the  Sheriff  in  the  latter's  absence  and  holds  in- 
quests over  the  bodies  of  persons  supposed  to  have  met 
death  by  accident  or  violence.  The  Coroner  is  given  his 
commission  by  the  Governor.  The  terms  of  the  Auditor, 
Recorder,  Assessor,  and  Clerk  are  four  years ;  those  of  the 
Prosecuting  Attorney,  Sheriff,  Surveyor,  Treasurer,  and 
Coroner  are  two  years. 

The  schem,e  of  county  government  in  Indiana  is  par- 
ticularly notable  because  of  its  system  of  checks.  In  the- 
ory almost  every  official  checks  some  other.  The  power  to 
levy  taxes,  for  example,  is  taken  entirely  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  men  who  disburse  the  money.  In  the  second  place, 


132  INDIANA 

the  county  is  the  fiscal  agent  of  the  State  and  of  the  munici- 
palities, for  it  is  the  County  Treasurer  who  collects  the 
taxes  and  turns  them  over  to  the  agents  of  the  other  grades 
of  government;  and  the  County  Board  of  Review  considers 
every  assessment  and  adjusts  differences.  In  the  third 
place,  the  County  is  the  unit  for  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, as  a  part  of  a  judicial  circuit.  The  Circuit  Court  is 
the  chief  judicial  instrument  of  the  State.  The  County  is 
a  very  convenient  administrative  unit,  but  it  is  overshadow- 
ed in  importance  by  some  of  the  large  municipalities. 
The  General  Assembly. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Indiana  is  very  similar  to  the 
legislature  of  other  states.  It  consists  of  two  chambers: 
the  Senate  of  fifty  members  and  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  one  hundred  members.  Altho  the  State  Constitu- 
tion would  permit  smaller  houses,  it  limits  the  membership 
to  these  numbers.  It  is  required  by  the  Constitution,  more- 
over, that  the  commonwealth  be  divided  by  the  Legislature 
into  senatorial  districts  and  representative  districts  once 
every  six  years,  on  the  basis  of  a  census  of  all  males  of 
voting  age.  The  representative  districts  elect  Representa- 
tives every  two  years,  and  the  senatorial  districts  choose 
Senators  once  in  four  years,  but  the  Senators  are  divided 
into  two  equal  classes,  so  that  the  terms  of  half  expire  each 
two  years. 

It  is  probable  that  every  apportionment  is  a  "gerry- 
mander;" that  is,  the  State  is  so  divided  that  many  districts 
will  give  small  pluralities  for  one  party  while  fewer  districts 
will  give  large  pluralities  for  the  other.  Thus  it  is  brought 
about  that  in  the  General  Assembly  there  is  usually  a  con- 
siderably larger  proportion  of  Representatives  and  Senators 
of  one  party  than  the  voters  of  that  party  form  of  the  entire 
electorate,  or  even  of  the  two  strongest  parties.  Several 
times  the  courts  have  declared  these  legislative  apportion- 
ments invalid,  because  they  have  been  so  manifestly  unfair. 

A  flagrant  trick  in  most  of  the  apportionments  is  the 
combining  of  some  counties  in  such  a  way  that  the  vote  of 
the  smaller  is  absolutely  ineffective.  Marion  County  is  usu- 
ally Democratic.  At  the  apportionment  of  1915  it  had  a 
voting  population  large  enough  to  entitle  it  to  five  Senators, 
but  not  quite  large  enough  for  six ;  so  the  Democratic  Gener- 
al Assembly  gave  Marion  County  five  Senators,  and  also  de- 
creed that  Marion  should  combine  with  Hamilton  and  Hend- 


GOVERNMENT  133 

ricks  Counties,  which  usually  are  Republican,  in  electing  a 
sixth.  Now  Hamilton  and  Hendricks  Counties  might  vote 
Republican  by  large  majorities,  and  yet  a  comparatively 
small  Democratic  plurality  in  Marion  County  would  decide 
the  contest  in  favor  of  the  Democratic  candidate  for  these 
counties,  for,  according  to  the  congressional  registration  of 
voters  in  1913,  Marion  County  had  84,731  voters,  Hamilton 
County  7,170,  and  Hendricks  5,952,  while  the  State  had 
792,625,  or  an  average  of  15,852  per  senatorial  district. 
Now  if  a  definite  portion  of  Marion  County,  containing  fewer 
than  5,500  voters  could  have  been  combined  in  a  district 
with  Hamilton  and  Hendricks  Counties,  it  would  not  have 
been  so  bad ;  but,  as  things  stand,  a  Democratic  plurality  of 
eight  thousand  in  Marion  might  overbalance  a  Republican 
vote  of  over  ten  thousand  five  hundred  in  the  other  two 
counties.  In  the  1915  senatorial  apportionment  there  were 
five  other  instances  of  such  a  combination  of  counties.  Po- 
litically, it  is  universally  considered  good  form  to  gerry- 
mander. Indiana  is  not  particularly  bad,  altho  it  has 
achieved  such  a  wonderful  result  as  that  obtained  when,  in 
1892,  259,190  Democratic  votes  elected  eleven  United  States 
Congressmen,  while  253,668  Republican  votes  elected  only 
two. 

A  visitor  to  the  General  Assembly  does  not  notice  evi- 
dence of  exceptional  ability  on  the  part  of  the  members, 
who  seem  to  be,  perhaps,  a  shade  more  keen  than  the  aver- 
age man.  In  1913  the  House  of  Representatives  was  made 
up  of  thirty-five  farmers,  twenty-five  lawyers,  six  teachers, 
five  merchants,  three  machinists,  two  druggists,  two  black- 
smiths, two  manufacturers,  two  salesmen,  two  newspaper 
editors,  two  insurance  agents,  and  one  each  of  the  following : 
banker,  carpenter,  civil  engineer,  manager  of  a  teachers'  bu- 
reau, railroad  inspector,  street  railway  conductor,  street 
railway  agent,  wood  turner,  locomotive  engineer,  live  stock 
dealer,  county  treasurer,  electrical  engineer  and  retired  mer- 
chant. One  seemed  to  have  no  regular  business.  The  Sen- 
ate contained  nineteen  lawyers,  five  merchants,  four  physi- 
cians, three  manufacturers,  three  newspaper  editors,  two 
farmers,  two  salesmen,  and  one  each  of  the  following: 
banker,  civil  engineer,  coal  operator,  contractor,  county 
treasurer,  court  reporter,  dentist,  druggist,  life  insurance 
agent,  liveryman,  retired  lumberman,  and  combination  phy- 
sician and  farmer.  These  lists  show  that  while  the  farmers 


134  INDIANA 

are  well  represented  in  the  House,  they  are  scarce  in  the 
Senate,  where  lawyers  compose  nearly  two-fifths  of  the 
membership.  The  laboring  men  are  present,  but  in  very 
small  numbers;  the  manufacturers,  store  keepers,  and 
bankers  are  few,  altho  probably  in  approximately  fair  pro- 
portion to  the  numbers  actually  engaged  in  these  occupa- 
tions. Then  there  is  a  miscellaneous  representation  from 
other  callings. 

Soon  after  the  election  of  the  members  of  the  General 
Assembly,  the  Governor  appoints  two  Representatives  and 
one  Senator  to  serve  as  the  Legislative  Investigating  Com- 
mittee. These  men  visit  every  state  office  and  every  state 
institution,  receive  reports  from  the  persons  in  charge,  in- 
spect the  work  that  has  been  done  or  that  is  in  process,  and 
then  make  up  a  report  with  recommendations  for  appropria- 
tions, which  is  referred  to  the  finance  committees  of  the 
two  houses.  This  report  is  the  basis  of  the  general  appro- 
priation bill,  which  is  one  of  the  most  important  measures 
considered  at  each  session.  Meanwhile,  there  is  always  at 
work  the  Legislative  Reference  Bureau,  which  collects  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  other  commonwealths, 
indexes  these  and  the  Indiana  statutes,  files  material  rela- 
tive to  legislative  and  municipal  problems,  and  renders  ex- 
pert assistance  in  the  delicate  task  of  drafting  bills. 

When  the  General  Assembly  conies  together  on  the 
Thursday  after  the  first  Monday  of  January  of  every  second 
year,  it  must  organize.  The  Lieutenant  Governor  presides 
over  the  Senate,  but  the  House  elects  its  own  Speaker.  The 
presiding  officers  appoint  the  standing  committees,  of  which, 
in  1913,  the  Senate  had  forty-six,  with  an  average  member- 
ship of  about  seven,  and  the  House  had  fifty-four.  Most 
of  these  committees  actually  consist  of  seven  members,  al- 
tho some  have  more  and  some  fewer.  Then,  to  make  legis- 
lation physically  possible,  a  great  deal  of  outside  help  has 
to  be  hired:  a  chief  clerk  with  reading  clerks,  engrossing 
clerks,  and  enrolling  clerks  to  assist  him;  stenographers; 
doorkeepers  to  preserve  order  among  spectators;  postmas- 
ters; telephone  operators;  and  pages.  Since  all  of  these 
persons  receive  rather  large  salaries  for  the  grade  of  work, 
there  are  many  applicants  for  each  position. 

The  process  of  making  laws  is  rather  complex.  Since 
every  Senator  and  Representative  naturally  wants  to  do 
something  for  his  district  or  for  the  State  he  is  eager  to 


GOVERNMENT  135 

have  his  name  appear  as  the  author  of  an  important  bill. 
He,  therefore,  generally  comes  to  the  Capitol  armed  with 
several  bills  of  his  own  making.  If,  however,  one  of  his  con- 
stituents desires  the  enactment  of  a  measure  in  which  the 
legislator  is  not  particularly  interested,  or  which  he  person- 
ally opposes,  he  may  introduce  the  bill  "by  request."  It  is 
perfectly  evident  from  the  character  of  the  occupations  of 
the  Representatives  and  Senators  that  most  of  them  have 
not  had  the  training  necessary  to  equip  them  to  draft  laws 
properly.  So  probably  the  majority  of  the  bills  actually 
come  from  the  pens  of  other  men  than  their  sponsors.  The 
bill  is  "introduced"  by  being  handed  to  the  Clerk  at  roll  call. 
It  is  read  by  title  and  is  referred  by  the  presiding  officer  to 
the  committee  which  is  considered  by  him  most  appropriate. 
This  act  of  reference  is  in  itself  very  important,  for  the 
presiding  officer  well  knows  the  character  of  the  committees, 
and  he  can  easily  bring  about  the  defeat  of  a  bill  by  entrust- 
ing it  to  a  group  of  hostile  men.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to 
compel  a  committee  to  report  a  bill ;  indeed  it  is  possible  for 
the  chairman  to  walk  about  with  the  bill  in  his  pocket  after 
the  committee  has  decided  to  recommend  the  measure's  en- 
actment. The  bill  as  it  passes  from  the  clerk  to  the  com- 
mittee is  bound  in  a  stiff  paper  cover  that  by  its  color  shows 
in  which  house  it  originated.  In  committee  the  bill  may  be 
thoroly  discussed  or  ignored.  It  may  be  that  several 
bills  covering  the  same  subject  have  been  introduced;  then 
the  committee  may  adopt  any  one  of  them,  may  alter  one 
to  suit  its  taste,  or  m;ay  draft  a  new  bill  better  to  meet  the 
real  need  of  the  political  situation.  In  working  on  an  im- 
portant bill  the  committee  may  give  hearings  at  which  any- 
interested  people  may  speak.  The  men  who  make  a  busi- 
ness of  influencing  legislation  are  often  able  by  means  of 
interviews  with  committeemen  to  prevent  the  reporting  of 
a  given  measure  or  to  have  it  so  modified  that  it  will  be  non- 
effective  if  it  does  pass,  or  to  have  it  changed  to  meet  their 
views. 

The  report  of  the  committee  recommending  the  adop- 
tion of  a  measure  may  be  accepted  by  the  House,  in  which 
case  the  bill  is  read  a  second  time  by  title,  and  then  made  the 
subject  of  debate.  During  this  debate  amendments  may  be 
offered  and  adopted,  and  at  its  conclusion  a  vote  is  taken, 
by  virtue  of  which,  if  favorable,  the  bill  is  sent  to  be  en- 
grossed, or  written  out  by  hand.  If  the  vote  is  "to  post- 


136  INDIANA 

pone  indefinitely,"  it  means  that  the  bill  is  "dead;"  it  can- 
not come  up  again  at  the  session. 

After  the  bill  has  been  engrossed  it  is  again  read,  this 
time  in  full.  The  reading  is  done  by  a  clerk  with  amazing 
speed,  and  is  usually  incomprehensible  because  of  the  haste 
and  of  the  hubbub  of  important  conversations  between  the 
members  of  the  House,  visitors,  and  lobbyists  during  the 
performance.  After  this  reading  amendments  can  be  made 
only  by  unanimous  consent.  Of  course  the  Chair  may  fail 
to  hear  an  objection,  but  if  the  opposition  to  an  amendment 
is  considerable,  the  bill  may  be  referred  to  a  committee. 
This  committee  may  make  the  amendment  and  sometimes 
reports  within  a  minute,  and  the  report  of  the  committee 
may  be  adopted  at  once.  In  this  way  pernicious  changes  of 
a  few  words  may  be  made.  They  are  hard  to  detect  and 
to  point  out  because  the  members  are  unable  to  read  them. 
House  Rule  65  in  1913  required  that  "every  bill  reported 
formally  by  a  committee,  and  such  other  bills  as  the  House 
may  direct,  shall  be  printed,  unless  the  committee  reporting 
such  bill  shall  recommend  that  such  bill  shall  not  be  printed." 
This  custom  of  printing  bills  makes  the  farce  of  reading  by 
title  harmless,  and  the  wonderful  vocal  performance  of  the 
Clerk  on  third  reading  is  a  respite  during  which  the  Legis- 
lators may  sort  their  mail,  chat,  rest,  read  the  newspaper, 
or  argue  with  each  other.  But  the  amendment  on  third 
reading  is  one  that  the  members  cannot  properly  compre- 
hend, and  it  is  not  uncommon  for  them  to  crowd  about  the 
Clerk  in  an  effort  to  catch  his  words.  After  the  final  de- 
bate, in  which  the  original  sponsor  of  the  bill  may  elucidate 
its  meaning,  or  members  may  explain  their  votes,  or  some 
men  may  even  make  really  argumentative  speeches,  the  final 
vote  is  taken.  The  roll  is  called  alphabetically.  Each  party 
recognizes  one  man  near  the  head  of  the  list  who  is  coached 
by  the  leaders,  in  order  that  the  other  members  of  the  party 
may  vote  as  he  does.  Of  course,  there  are  a  great  many 
bills  that  are  not  party  measures,  and  then  this  example  is 
not  necessary.  Immediately  after  the  calling  of  the  roll  the 
members  may  change  their  votes  if  they  have  made  mis- 
takes and  there  are  sometimes  as  many  as  a  dozen  such 
metamorphoses.  The  presiding  officer  then  announces  the 
vote-  If  this  vote  is  favorable  the  bill  is  carried  across  to 
the  other  House  and  given  to  its  clerk.  In  the  second 
House  the  process  of  the  first  is  repeated. 


GOVERNMENT  137 

If  the  second  House  has  adopted  the  bill  with  some  new 
amendments,  it  is  returned  to  the  first.  The  first  House 
may  then  accept  these  amendments,  or  it  may  "non-concur", 
in  which  case  it  is  usual  to  move  the  appointment  of  a  con- 
ference committee.  Conferees  from  the  two  bodies  gen- 
erally succeed  in  arriving  at  some  sort  of  a  compromise, 
which  both  Houses  almost  invariably  adopt.  As  soon  as  the 
bill  has  been  finally  accepted  by  both  Houses,  it  is  enrolled, 
or  carefully  written  out  in  long-hand.  In  this  process  it  is 
possible  for  a  careless  or  a  corrupt  copyist  considerably  to 
modify  the  meaning  of  a  law  by  a  slight  change,  such  as  the 
substitution  of  one  conjunction  for  another.  The  enrolled 
bill  is  taken  to  the  Governor,  by  whose  signature  it  is  made 
law.  If,  however,  he  disapproves  the  measure,  he  returns 
it  with  his  objections  to  the  House  in  which  it  originated. 
His  objections  are  then  considered  and  spread  upon  the  min- 
utes. If,  on  reconsideration,  this  House  votes  in  favor  of 
the  measure,  it  is  transmitted  to  the  other  House,  and  if 
this  body  too,  by  a  majority  vote,  approves  the  bill,  it  be- 
comes a  law.  A  bill  which  the  Governor  keeps  for  three 
days,  Sundays  excepted,  becomes  law  even  if  he  does  not 
sign  it  "unless  the  general  adjournment  shall  prevent  its 
return,  in  which  case  it  shall  be  a  law,  unless  the  Governor, 
within  five  days  next  after  such  adjournment,  shall  file  such 
bill,  with  his  objections  theerto,  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  who  shall  lay  the  same  before  the  General  Assem- 
bly at  its  next  session  in  like  manner  as  if  it  had  been  re- 
turned by  the  Governor.  But  no  bill  shall  be  presented  to 
the  Governor  within  two  days  next  previous  to  the  final  ad- 
journment of  the  General  Assembly."  When  a  Governor 
personally  does  not  approve  a  bill,  but  does  not  wish  to 
place  himself  in  definite  opposition  to  his  party,  he  some- 
times allows  the  measure  to  become  a  law  without  his  sig- 
nature by  holding  it  three  days.  The  veto  provision  in  In- 
diana's Constitution  is  certainly  wise  in  permitting  a 
majority  of  the  Legislature  to  override  the  Governor's  veto, 
it  is  defective  in  allowing  him  so  little  time  to  consider  the 
bills.  Of  course,  he  may  become  acquainted  with  their  pro- 
visions during  their  passage,  but  he  may  be  hard  put  to  find 
time  for  investigation,  and  he  ought  to  have  a  greater  op- 
portunity for  consideration.  Again,  it  is  a  mistake  to  com- 
pel the  Governor  to  approve  or  disapprove  the  bill  as  a 
whole.  He  should  be  allowed  to  veto  a  single  section.  It 


138  INDIANA 

may  well  be  that  measures,  desirable  on  the  whole,  contain 
provisions  that  neither  a  majority  of  the  Legislature  nor 
the  Governor  approve,  but  which  have  held  their  places  in 
the  bill  because  its  proponents  could  not  secure  its  passage 
without  placating  some  headstrong  element  by  the  obnox- 
ious section.  The  possibility  of  a  veto  by  sections  would 
bring  these  points  clearly  to  an  issue,  and  would  probably 
improve  legislation. 

From  the  Governor  the  enrolled  law  passes  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  State,  who  is  responsible  for  its  safekeeping  for- 
ever. He  edits  the  acts  of  the  session,  has  them  printed  and 
sends  them  to  the  Circuit  Court  Clerks  for  distribution 
among  interested  people.  As  soon  as  the  last  Clerk  has  re- 
ceived his  allotment  the  Governor  by  proclamation  puts  the 
laws  in  force.  If,  however,  it  seems  unwise  for  a  law  to  be 
so  long  non-enforceable  it  is  customary  to  "declare  an  em- 
ergency," and  the  statute  is  then  law  as  soon  as  the  Gover- 
nor has  signed  it. 

At  every  session  of  the  General  Assembly  from  a  thou- 
sand to  fifteen  hundred  bills  are  introduced,  and,  roughly, 
from  three  to  five  hundred  are  passed.  Since  it  is  manifest- 
ly impossible  for  the  individual  members  to  give  adequate 
consideration  to  many  of  these  proposals,  it  is  important  to 
note  how  they  determine  their  votes.  In  the  first  place, 
there  are  a  goodly  number  of  measures  of  no  political  sig- 
nificance, measures  for  the  relief  of  certain  individuals, 
measures  to  validate  some  bond  issues,  made  in  good  faith, 
but  containing  some  legal  flaw,  measures  to  legalize  some 
acts  in  which  the  officials  did  not  comply  with  all  the  for- 
malities. Other  non-political  measures  are  of  greater  gen- 
eral importance.  A  new  drainage  law,  an  amendment  to 
the  labor  code,  a  measure  for  the  benefit  of  farmers  may  be 
so  obviously  desirable  that  there  will  be  no  serious  opposi- 
tion, and  a  mere  explanation  by  its  sponsor  will  secure  its 
enactment.  The  men  on  the  committee  are  often  fairly 
well  acquainted  with  the  subjects  they  have  to  consider, 
and  their  advice  may  be  trusted. 

But  when  it  comes  to  acts  that  involve  important  de- 
terminations of  policy,  or  when  there  is  party  interest  at 
stake,  the  situation  is  different.  Then  oftentimes  the  lob- 
byist strains  every  nerve  to  influence  committees  and  in- 
dividual members,  and  the  party  has  to  adopt  an  official 
attitude.  The  leader  of  each  party  in  the  House  calls  a 


GOVERNMENT  139 

"caucus,"  which  every  member  of  the  party  is  expected  to 
attend.  At  this  caucus  it  is  decided  whether  the  party  will 
support  or  oppose  certain  measures.  There  may  be  real  de- 
bate, or  the  tacitly  recognized  representatives  of  some  boss 
may  precipitate  an  immediate  vote ;  but  whatever  the  meth- 
od employed,  every  man  who  attended  the  caucus  is  pledged 
to  vote  in  accordance  with  its  decision.  Thus,  for  example, 
there  may  be  in  the  Senate  thirty-five  Republicans  and  fif- 
teen Democrats.  All  the  Democrats  and  fifteen  of  the  Re- 
publicans may  be  opposed  to  a  certain  measure;  that  is, 
thirty  out  of  fifty  Senators  disapprove  it.  Yet,  if  the  Re- 
publican caucus  decides  by  the  vote  of  twenty  to  fifteen  to 
pass  the  bill,  it  will  carry  by  the  majority  of  thirty-five  to 
fifteen.  Thus  it  is  possible  for  the  real  desires  of  the  ma- 
jority to  be  defeated.  There  are  several  reasons  why  the 
Republicans  who  oppose  that  bill  attend  the  caucus.  Some 
of  them  are  really  loyal  to  party;  some  of  them  want  to  be 
considered  loyal ;  but  more  are  well  aware  that  if  a  man  is 
absent  from  a  caucus  and  votes  against  his  party  he  cannot 
hope  to  secure  the  passage  of  any  of  his  bills,  and  if  he  suc- 
ceeds in  accomplishing  nothing  his  constituents  will  be  dis- 
satisfied. So,  because  the  legislators  know  that  they  must 
work  with  a  group  if  they  desire  to  accomplish  their  own 
little  ends  they  attend  the  caucus  and  consent  to  the  tyranny 
of  its  provisional  vote.  The  caucus  system  seems  to  be  a 
necessary  adjunct  to  legislative  government. 

Before  and  after  the  sessions  of  the  caucuses,  at  all 
times,  the  lobbyists  are  at  work.  Altho  the  most  powerful 
and  skillful  lobbying  is  doubtless  done  entirely  away  from 
the  legislative  halls,  thru  the  bosses,  men  are  actually  paid 
to  go  to  the  individual  legislators  and  to  induce  them,  to 
favor  or  oppose  certain  measures.  The  activities  of  these 
paid  men  were  so  obvious  that  the  1915  Assembly,  by  the 
second  law  it  passed,  tried  to  regulate  them.  The  new 
statute  defines  a  "legislative  counsel"  as  "any  person,  firm, 
corporation  or  association  employed  for  compensation  given 
directly  or  indirectly  to  appear  before  a  committee  of  the 
General  Assembly,  of  either  House,  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing arguments  or  examining  witnesses,  or  any  legal  counsel 
employed  regularly  or  temporarily  by  any  person,  firm,  cor- 
poration, or  association,  who  promotes  or  opposes  legislation 
by  the  preparation  of  written  briefs  or  statements  submit- 
ted to  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  or  the  com- 


140  INDIANA 

mittees  thereof,  or  of  either  House."  A  "Legislative 
Agent"  is  "any  person,  who  for  a  compensation  given  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  promotes  or  opposes  legislation  by  any 
other  means  than  those  set  forth  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph, especially  by  personal  interview  with  members  of 
the  General  Assembly,  or  by  personal  communications  with 
members  of  the  General  Assembly  or  the  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Indiana:  provided,  a  legislative  agent  may  act  as 
a  legislative  counsel  if  so  authorized  by  his  employer." 
Within  one  week  of  the  date  of  their  employment  these  lob- 
byists have  to  register  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  giving 
the  exact  nature  of  their  business,  the  names  of  their  em- 
ployers, and  other  important  data.  The  list  of  the  regis- 
tered lobbyists  with  all  this  information  is  open  to  inspec- 
tion. Upon  registering,  the  lobbyist  is  given  a  certificate 
which  he  may  be  required  to  exhibit  by  any  member  of  any 
committee  before  which  he  desires  to  appear.  Within  thir- 
ty days  after  the  close  of  the  General  Assembly,  each  per- 
son, firm,  or  corporation  that  has  employed  a  lobbyist  must 
file  with  the  Secretary  of  State  an  itemized  statement  of  all 
expenses  incurred  in  connection  with  the  employment  of 
this  agent  or  counsel.  These  reports,  which  must  be  upon 
prescribed  forms,  are  public  records.  It  is  forbidden  to  pay 
fees  contingent  upon  the  success  of  the  work  of  the  lobbyist. 
Lobbyists  residing  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Indiana 
courts,  must  give  bond. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  there  is  necessarily  any- 
thing wrong  in  employing  lobbyists.  Indeed,  it  is  highly  de- 
sirable that  the  interested  parties  ably  present  their  views 
to  the  influential  legislators,  for  it  is  only  by  encouraging 
thoro  consideration  of  important  matters  that  the  General 
Assembly  can  hope  to  act  wisely.  It  is  a  great  misfortune 
that  very  frequently  the  general  public  has  no  clever  repre- 
sentative while  all  too  often  the  interests  opposed  to 
the  community  well  being  can  afford  to  employ  the  most  skill- 
ful men.  The  really  objectionable  part  of  lobbying  is  not 
the  arguments  addressed  to  legislators  and  committees,  but 
the  unfair  coercion  and  the  secret  rewards.  These  are  hard- 
est to  prevent. 

The  closing  days  of  the  session  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly have  no  features  that  command  admiration.  The  Con- 
stitution limits  the  regular  session  to  sixty-one  days  and 
special  sessions  that  the  Governor  may  summon  to  forty; 


GOVERNMENT  141 

but  an  extra  session  is  unpopular,  because  of  the  expense  to 
tax  payers.  This  limitation  of  the  session  entails  a  tre- 
mendous stress  in  the  last  few  days.  The  meetings  are  con- 
tinued from  ten  A.  M.  till  midnight,  with  recesses  for  meals ; 
the  men  are  worn  out  with  this  strain,  and  bills  are  rushed 
to  passage  without  due  consideration.  In  the  past  there 
has  been  a  great  deal  of  horse  play,  but  in  1915  the  House 
of  Representatives  passed  a  resolution  that  prevented  most 
of  the  inane  tricks  and  practical  jokes.  After  all,  if  there 
is  little  in  the  personnel  and  output  of  the  General  Assembly 
for  Indiana  to  be  proud  of,  her  Legislature  is  probably  no 
worse  than  the  average,  and  occasionally  it  achieves  a  bril- 
liant piece  of  lawmaking. 

State  Officials. 

The  highest  executive  powers  of  the  State  are  vested 
in  the  Governor,  who  is  elected  for  a  term  of  four  years  and 
who  cannot  succeed  himself.  The  Governor  has  certain  leg- 
islative functions :  he  may  call  a  special  session  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly;  he  performs  the  final  act  of  lawmaking  by 
signing  or  vetoing  bills  and  then  proclaiming  the  statutes  in 
force;  and  he  is  expected  from  time  to  time  to  give  to  the 
General  Assembly  information  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
commonwealth  and  to  make  recommendations  for  action. 
As  a  real  executive,  he  is  the  head  of  the  military  and  naval 
forces  of  the  State,  which  he  may  use  to  "execute  the  laws, 
or  to  suppress  rebellion,  or  to  repel  invasion ;"  he  is  commis- 
sioned to  transact  "all  necessary  business  with  the  officers 
of  the  government,  and  may  require  any  information  in 
writing  from  the  officers  of  the  administrative  department, 
upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices."  In  other  words,  he  has  a  general  supervision  over 
the  conduct  of  the  various  executive  departments,  and  he 
must  "take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed."  Fi- 
nally, he  exercises  a  wide  appointing  power  under  the  Con- 
stitution and  by  virtue  of  legislative  enactment.  Another 
branch  of  the  Governor's  activities  is  judicial  in  essence,  for 
he  may  grant  pardons,  commutations,  and  reprieves  to  all 
offenders,  except  those  convicted  of  treason  or  found  guilty 
after  impeachment,  but  in  this  power  he  is  limited  by  the 
legislative  creation  under  the  authority  of  the  Constitution 
of  a  special  board  to  have  charge  of  pardons  and  paroles. 
The  Governor  is,  then,  an  official  of  wide  powers. 


142  INDIANA 

If  the  Governor  is  incapacitated,  his  work  is  done  by 
the  Lieutenant  Governor,  elected  at  the  same  time  for  the 
same  term,  whose  usual  function  is  to  preside  over  the  Sen- 
ate. 

The  Secretary  of  State  is  a  man  of  considerable  respon- 
sibility, for  he  is  entrusted  with  the  keeping  of  the  enrolled 
copy  of  the  Constitution,  of  the  enrolled  acts  of  the  General 
Assembly,  of  deeds,  conveyances,  and  contracts  belonging 
to  the  State,  of  official  bonds  of  the  officers,  of  records  of 
the  acts  of  the  Governor,  and  of  the  decisions  of  the  Board 
of  Pardons.  He  is  required  to  furnish  a  copy  of  any  law  or 
act  on  demand,  if  he  may  properly  give  it,  and  to  keep  his 
records  in  such  order  that  they  may  be  inspected  by  the  au- 
thorized committee  from  the  General  Assembly,  and  that 
they  may  be  available  to  the  Governor.  Under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Secretary  of  State  is  the  work  of  filing  articles 
of  association  or  the  chartering  of  corporations,  the  licens- 
ing of  automobiles,  the  editing  and  publishing  of  the  stat- 
utes, and  a  great  many  other  matters  of  routine.  He  is  ex- 
officio  member  of  several  commissions,  of  the  Board  of 
Printing,  for  example,  and  he  is  able  to  exercise  some  im- 
portant discretion.  His  task  of  keeping  many  records  and 
his  opportunity  corruptly  to  altar  or  lose  a  statute  make  the 
Secretary  of  State  a  man  of  great  power. 

Perhaps  overshadowing  the  Secretary  of  State  in  im- 
portance, because  of  his  larger  discretionary  powers,  is  the 
Auditor  of  State.  As  is  the  case  of  the  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  his  term  is  two  years,  and  an  individual  may  not 
hold  the  office  more  than  four  years  in  any  six.  In  the  first 
place,  the  Auditor  must  see  that  all  funds  due  the  State  are 
collected.  To  this  end  he  may  examine  the  accounts  of  all 
persons  who  receive  money  for  the  State,  direct  the  collec- 
tion of  such  funds,  and  institute  suits  to  recover  sums  due 
the  commonwealth.  Then  he  has  extensive  duties  connect- 
ed with  expenditures,  for  he  draws  warrants  on  the  Treas- 
urer for  the  payment  of  funds  appropriated  by  law,  he  ex- 
amines and  settles  claims  against  the  State,  and  he  makes 
an  estimate  of  the  necessary  budget  for  the  General  As- 
sembly. Moreover,  as  the  chief  accounting  officer  he  keeps 
the  records  of  the  financial  transactions  of  the  common- 
wealth with  the  Federal  Government,  with  other  States, 
with  officers  of  the  State,  and  with  the  County  Treasurers ; 
he  opens  a  separate  account  for  each  fund  provided  for  by 


GOVERNMENT  143 

legislation;  and  he  keeps  records  of  the  leases,  bonds,  mort- 
gages, and  other  securities  in  which  the  State  is  interested, 
unless  the  law  has  made  some  other  special  provision.  He 
is  required  to  prepare  a  complete  report  for  the  General  As- 
sembly and  to  give  the  Governor  information  upon  request. 
Finally,  the  Auditor  has  under  his  supervision  the  Insurance 
and  Banking  Departments,  which  examine  and  regulate  the 
banks,  the  trust  companies,  the  building  and  loan  associa- 
tions, and  the  insurance  companies.  Altho  it  is  of  the  high- 
est importance  to  the  individual  and  collective  welfare  that 
these  financial  institutions  be  thoroly  sound,  the  law  neces- 
sarily allows  wide  discretion.  In  addition  to  the  above  func- 
tions, the  Auditor  serves  on  the  State  Board  of  Tax  Com- 
missioners and  acts  with  the  Governor  and  Treasurer  as  a 
committee  to  pass  upon  the  necessity  of  authorizing  tem- 
porary loans.  ••"* 

The  Treasurer  of  State  receives  the  revenues  from 
bond  sales,  taxes,  land  sales,  departmental  fees,  and  other 
sources  of  State  income.  He  may  disburse  these  funds  only 
upon  the  presentation  of  warrants  signed  by  the  Auditor. 
The  Treasurer  is  required  to  account  for  all  money  that 
comes  into  his  possession,  to  prepare  monthly  statements 
for  the  use  of  the  Auditor,  to  publish  in  two  Indianapolis 
papers  an  annual  statement,  and  to  make  full  reports  to  the 
General  Assembly.  Since  he  is  entrusted  with  such  large 
sums  he  is  compelled  to  give  bond  for  seven  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars. 

The  State  Attorney  General  also  is  elected  for  two 
years.  He  is  required  to  give  his  legal  opinion  to  the  Gover- 
nor upon  request,  and  to  other  State  officers  upon  matters 
pertinent  to  their  duties  and  functions ;  he  must  prepare  an 
opinion  for  either  House  upon  the  constitutionality  of  any 
law ;  but  he  is  not  required  to  render  any  other  advice.  He 
keeps  a  record  of  all  these  opinions.  The  Attorney  General 
must  defend  the  State  officers  in  action  brought  against 
them  as  officials,  and  he  must  defend  all  suits  involving  the 
commonwealth,  upon  due  notification  thru  proper  channels. 
But  his  court  activities  are  not  confined  to  cases  in  which 
the  State  is  a  party,  for  he  is  commissioned  to  look  after 
any  suits  in  the  Supreme  Court  in  which  the  State  is  inter- 
ested. The  Attorney  General  is  able  to  exercise  a  great  deal 
of  influence  on  the  execution  of  the  laws.  If  he  formulate 
an  interpretation  of  a  law,  the  department  is  practically 


144  INDIANA 

bound  to  follow  his  opinion.  In  this  way  it  is  possible  for  a 
corrupt,  interested,  or  inefficient  Attorney  General  to  vitiate 
a  great  deal  of  legislation. 

There  are  many  other  State  officers,  some  elective,  as 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  the  Geologist,  the 
Statistician,  and  the  Prosecuting  Attorneys,  and  others  ap- 
pointive, like  the  Entomologist,  the  Veterinarian,  the  Libra- 
rian, the  Supervisor  of  Oil  Inspection,  the  Adjutant  Gen- 
eral, and  the  Quartermaster  General.  These  men,  however, 
determine  policy  in  a  very  small  way,  if  at  all.  There  are 
also  the  appointive  commissions  on  Education,  Forestry, 
Health,  Taxation,  and  Public  Utilities.  These  will  be  con- 
sidered in  other  chapters,  except  for  the  Public  Service  Con> 
mission.  This  board  of  five  men  is  the  successor,  with  wid- 
ened powers,  of  the  old  Railroad  Commissioners,  for  it  can 
supervise  all  the  public  utilities  in  the  State,  regulating  their 
charges,  services,  stock  issues,  and  methods  of  accounting. 
These  powers  are  enough  to  determine  the  life  or  death  of 
the  utilities  in  most  instances,  as  the  Commission  may  pro- 
cure, thru  the  proper  legal  proceedings,  the  forfeiture  of  the 
indeterminate  franchises  under  which  most  of  the  utilities 
are  now  operating.  The  results  so  far  achieved  are  few, 
but  important.  The  Commission  stands  between  the  public 
and  the  corporations,  procuring  reasonable  rates  for  both, 
and  thus  saving  the  utilities  from  bankruptcy  and  the  cus- 
tomers from  extortionate  charges.  Another  achievement 
has  come  thru  expert  advice  offered  to  the  managers  of  the 
small  plants,  who  are  apt  to  be  out  of  touch  with  the  most 
up-to-date  methods,  and  who  frequently  visit  the  office  in  the 
State  House  and  there  learn  new  economies  in  production 
and  new  means  of  procuring  reliability.  This  Commission 
can  do  a  vast  amount  of  good,  but  it  has  great  temptations 
to  play  into  the  hands  of  the  large  utilities. 

Impeachments. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  there  is  much  incompeten- 
cy  in  the  ranks  of  the  office  holders  in  Indiana.  Perhaps 
the  most  startling  example  of  unfitness  for  public  position 
was  furnished  by  Professor  Esarey  who  cites  the  foreign 
born  road  supervisor  who  thot  that  the  best  way  to  drain  a 
highway  was  to  put  a  ditch  down  its  center,  and  who  ruined 
the  roads  in  his  district.  Officers  may  be  worse  than  in- 


GOVERNMENT  145 

competent,  however,  and  it  may  become  necessary  to  remove 
them.  This  is  accomplished  by  the  process  of  impeachment. 

All  State  officers,  including  Judges  and  Prosecuting  At- 
torneys, are  impeached  by  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, the  "articles  of  impeachment"  being  filed  with 
the  president  of  the  Senate.  The  Senate  appoints  a  day  on 
which  the  defendant  may  appear  and  plead  orally,  or  may 
make  written  answer  to  the  charges.  If  the  written  an- 
swer is  unsatisfactory,  or  if  the  oral  plea  is  "not  guilty,"  the 
Senate  tries  the  impeachment,  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  the 
Senators  being  necessary  to  convict.  The  judgment  of  the 
Senate  may  be  the  suspension  of  the  defendant  from,  office, 
or  his  complete  removal,  coupled  with  disqualification  from 
ever  thereafter  holding  a  post  of  honor  or  profit  in  the  State. 
During  the  trial,  a  substitute  appointed  by  the  Governor 
performs  the  duties  of  the  defendant's  office.  In  case  the 
Governor  or  Lieutenant  Governor  is  impeached,  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  presides  over  the  trial  ses- 
sions of  the  Senate. 

District,  county,  township,  or  municipal  officers  are 
impeached  by  action  of  the  Grand  Jury,  before  whom  the 
accusations  must  first  be  brought.  The  impeachment  is 
tried  in  the  Circuit  Court  by  the  Prosecuting  Attorney. 
The  trial  must  be  by  jury,  the  appeal  may  be  taken  to  the 
Supreme  Court.  Judgment  may  be  removal  from  office. 

The  method  of  impeachment  is  very  cumbersome,  yet 
probably  no  better  method  of  removing  from  office  can  be 
devised  short  of  the  power  of  the  people  to  recall  the  in- 
cumbent. In  general  a  court  decision  would  be  more  trust- 
worthy than  a  popular  vote,  yet  there  have  been  late  ex- 
amples of  the  fact  that  Indiana  judges  who  have  been 
elected  by  the  same  party  as  the  accused  officials,  are  very 
apt  to  regard  with  slight  favor  the  charges  brought  against 
these  men.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  people  do  remove 
from  office  individuals  who  have  committed  no  sin,  but  who 
have  adopted  policies  widely  unpopular,  no  wrong  is  done, 
as  the  men  have  been  placed  in  office  to  serve  those  people. 
Of  course  the  policy  of  the  individual  removed  may  have 
been  much  better  conceived  than  that  of  his  constituents  or 
of  the  successor  whom  they  elect,  but  the  point  is  this: 
there  is  no  better  arbiter  than  the  voters,  and  if  any  man 
or  group  of  men  have  a  right  to  rule  it  is  the  voters. 


146  INDIANA 

Direct  Primaries. 

For  decades  there  has  been  dissatisfaction  with  the 
methods  used  by  the  political  parties  in  choosing  their  can- 
didates for  offices  of  all  grades.     It  has  been  felt  that  cer- 
tain methods  had  been  devised  to  bring  it  about  that  the 
men  nominated  on  all  the  tickets  stood,  not  for  the  things 
desired  by  the  voters,  but  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  wishes 
of  the  bosses.     As  a  matter  of  practical  fact,  the  voter  could 
decide  only  among  the  candidates  put  in  the  field  by  the  or- 
ganizations, none  of  whom  might  be  in  the  least  to  his  liking. 
After  years  of  effort  the  1915  General  Assembly  was  induced 
to  pass  the  "Jones  Direct  Primary  Law."     By  the  terms  of 
this  act  the  existence  of  political  parties  was  frankly  recog- 
nized by  regular  rules  for  the  selection  of  the  State,  Con- 
gressional District,  County,  City,  and  Precinct  Committees, 
based  on  the  election  of  the  precinct  committeemen  by  ballot 
at  the  March  primary.     A  man  may  be  nominated  for  any 
office,  save  that  of  President  and  Vice  President  of  the  Unit- 
ed States,  United  States  Senator,  Governor,  or  other  State 
official,  by  filing  with  the  Secretary  of  State  or  with  the 
Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  or  with  the  City  Clerk,  depending 
on  the  constituency,  a  petition  signed  by  a  required  number 
of  voters.     The  name  of  this  aspirant  is  then  printed  on  the 
"Primary  Ballot"  of  his  party,  along  with  the  names  of  the 
other  candidates  for  the  nomination,  and  it  is  voted  upon  by 
the  electors  of  the  party.     Men  who  care  to  affirm,  if  chal- 
lenged, that  at  the  last  general  election  they  supported  the 
majority  of  candidates  of  the  party,  or,  if  first  voters,  that, 
in  general,  they  intend  to  support  that  party,  are  eligible  to 
participate  in  its  primary.     But  the  only  person  who  may 
challenge  a  participant  in  the  primary  is,  according  to  the 
decision  of  the  State  Supreme  Court,  a  member  of  the  party 
at  whose  primary  the  individual  attempts  to  vote.     For  each 
nomination  the  voter  may  express  his  first  and  second  choice 
of  candidates.     Elaborately  expressed  but  simple  rules  for 
the  placing  of  the  names  upon  the  ballots  and  for  counting 
the  votes  are  designed  to  procure  absolute  mechanical  fair- 
ness and  to  secure  the  nomination  of  candidates  who  are  sat- 
isfactory to  the  largest  number  of  voters  of  their  respective 
parties.     The  delegates  to  the  State  Convention  of  the  party 
are  to  be  selected  at  the  March  primary.     They  are,  as  of 


GOVERNMENT  147 

old,  to  adopt  a  platform  of  principles,  to  nominate  State  of- 
ficials, and  to  select  delegates  to  the  National  Convention; 
but  if  a  majority  at  the  party 's  primary  shall  have  favored 
the  candidacy  of  any  one  man  for  Governor  or  Senator,  this 
individual  is  to  be  the  official  nominee  of  the  party  and  the 
Convention  may  nominate  no  other;  and  if  a  majority  of  the 
electors  in  the  Primary  shall  have  declared  in  favor  of  any 
individual  for  President  or  Vice  President,  the  delegates 
from  the  party  in  Indiana  are  to  be  bound  to  vote  solidly  for 
this  individual  as  long  as  his  name  may  be  before  the  Nat- 
ional Convention.  Thus  the  law  aims  to  secure  the  popular 
will  in  the  nominations  of  the  candidates  for  all  offices  and  in 
the  control  of  the  party  committees  and  delegates.  An  at- 
tack has  been  made  upon  the  law  in  the  courts  on  the  ground 
of  the  expense  of  the  primary  elections,  on  the  supposition 
that  the  statute  destroys  the  secrecy  of  the  ballot,  and  on 
the  charge  that  it  destroys  the  freedom  of  the  ballot  by  re- 
quiring of  candidates  for  nomination  the  payment  of  arbi- 
trary fees.  There  are  many  other  counts  urged  against  the 
law.  The  State  Supreme  Court  has  held  the  fees  uncon- 
stitutional and  has  upheld  the  other  features  of  the  law. 
The  direct  method  of  nominating  candidates  for  office  is  not 
a  sure  cure  for  organization  rule ;  yet  it  does  give  the  voters 
a  better  chance  to  express  their  will  than  they  have  had. 

Courts. 

The  administration  of  justice  in  Indiana  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  rather  complicated  system  of  courts.  The  functions  of 
the  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  of  the  Mayors'  Courts  have  al- 
ready been  noted.  The  municipalities  have  "City  Courts" 
to  try  violators  of  their  ordinances  and  persons  guilty  of 
petit  larceny  and  other  minor  offenses.  The  main  task  of 
administering  justice,  however,  rests  upon  the  Circuit 
Courts  which  have  jurisdiction  in  one  or  more  counties, 
holding  sessions  in  each.  There  is  one  judge  to  each  circuit, 
elected  for  six  years  by  the  voters  of  the  included  counties. 
A  man  accused  of  crime  is  usually  first  tried  in  the  Circuit 
Court;  wills  are  there  probated  and  contested,  injunctions 
granted,  names  changed,  and  civil  cases  decided.  The  rec- 
ords of  the  Circuit  Court  are  kept  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  elected  in  each  County.  The  State  is  represented 
in  trials  by  the  Prosecuting  Attorney,  an  official  whose  work 


148  INDIANA 

was  mentioned  in  the  description  of  county  government, 
altho  his  constituency  is  really  the  judicial  circuit. 

The  Court  appoints  two  men  as  jury  commissioners, 
who  select  from  the  tax  duplicate  twice  as  many  names  as 
the  number  of  jurors  who  will  probably  be  needed  at  the 
next  term.  The  list  may  not  include  a  man  who  is  not  a 
freeholder  or  a  householder.  These  names  are  given  in  a 
locked  box  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  he  draws 
out  for  each  term  enough  men  to  make  up  the  Grand  Jury 
of  six  and  the  Petit  Jury  of  twelve  members.  If  challenges 
are  expected,  more  names  may  be  drawn,  in  order  that  no 
time  may  be  lost  in  completing  the  panel.  The  Grand  Jury 
hears  incriminating  evidence  and  determines  whether  there 
is  enough  damaging  testimony  to  warrant  the  holding  of  a 
person  for  trial;  its  report  bringing  charges  against  an  in- 
dividual is  called  an  indictment.  The  Petit  Jury  determines 
the  issue  of  a  trial  and  has,  according  to  the  Constitution, 
the  right  to  determine  both  the  law  and  the  facts. 

In  some  of  the  larger  circuits  there  has  been  too  much 
work  for  the  ordinary  Circuit  Courts;  so  the  Legislature 
has  provided  for  Superior  Courts,  consisting  in  some  cases 
of  more  than  one  judge,  and  exercising  civil  jurisdiction. 
If  the  Superior  Court  has  several  members,  these  judges 
may  sit  individually  in  "special  term,"  or  together  in  "gen- 
eral term,"  but  there  is  no  appeal  from  the  special  to  the 
general  term.  In  Marion,  Allen,  and  Vigo  Counties  it  has 
been  necessary  to  organize  Criminal  Courts,  to  relieve  the 
other  courts  of  all  the  criminal  cases.  These  Criminal 
Courts  consist  each  of  one  Judge  elected  like  the  judges  of 
the  Superior  Courts  for  a  term  of  four  years.  In  Indiana- 
polis there  is  a  special  Juvenile  Court,  but  elsewhere  the 
Circuit  Judge  acts  as  Juvenile  Judge,  in  addition  to  his  reg- 
ular duties.  The  Judges  of  the  Juvenile  Courts  appoint 
probation  officers  and  allow  discreet  persons  to  act  as  vol- 
unteer assistants.  Trials  of  boys  under  sixteen  and  of  girls 
under  seventeen,  as  conducted  in  these  Juvenile  Courts,  are 
exceedingly  informal,  and  the  judgment  is  one  that  aims  to 
give  the  young  offender  a  chance  to  reform  without  sending 
him  to  jail.  In  this  way  more  good  is  accomplished  than 
by  giving  the  child  his  constitutionally  guaranteed  trial  by 
jury. 

If  an  error  has  been  made  by  the  Judge  in  a  Circuit, 
Criminal,  or  Superior  Court,  the  case  may  usually  be  appealed 


GOVERNMENT  149 

to  the  Supreme  Court  or  to  the  Appellate  Court.  Each  of 
these  courts  consists  of  five  justices  elected  by  the  voters  of 
the  State  as  a  whole  from  five  districts,  one  justice  in  each 
court  being  chosen  from  each  district.  In  certain  cases, 
such  as  prosecutions  for  misdemeanors,  actions  involving 
money  judgment  of  not  over  thirty-five  hundred  dollars,  ac- 
tions for  the  recovery  of  specific  personal  property,  actions 
between  landlord  and  tenant  involving  possession  of  proper- 
ty under  lease,  and  some  actions  involving  estates,  the  Ap- 
pellate Court  has  exclusive  jurisdiction;  and  where  it  has  ex- 
clusive jurisdiction  it  has  also  final  jurisdiction,  unless  one 
of  the  litigants  can  raise  a  point  of  equity  or  of  constitution- 
ality, or  unless  the  suit  involves  the  title  to  real  estate. 
This  Appellate  Court  was  formed  to  relieve  the  Supreme 
Court  of  part  of  its  excessive  business. 

The  Supreme  Court  is  not  only  the  highest  court  of 
appeal,  except  in  those  classes  of  cases  expressly  assigned 
by  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Appellate  Court  as  final  ar- 
biter, but  it  has  original  jurisdiction  in  a  large  variety  of 
litigation,  where  the  matters  involved  are  of  great  import- 
ance or  of  very  wide  interest  to  the  State. 

Summary. 

As  this  chapter  has  been  almost  entirely  descriptive  no 
attempt  will  be  made  to  summarize.  It  may  be  pointed  out, 
however,  that  Indiana  has  carried  to  an  extreme  the  prin- 
ciple of  rotation  in  office.  The  Governor  may  not  succeed 
himself  in  office,  and  many  of  the  State  and  County  officers 
may  not  serve  three  consecutive  terms.  Moreover,  the 
system  of  government  has  grown  more  complex  in  the 
course  of  time.  The  Township  Advisory  Board  and  the 
County  Council  were  established  in  order  that  the  ad- 
ministrative officers  might  be  held  in  check  by  an- 
other body  in  control  of  the  tax  rate;  the  political  parties 
have  been  somewhat  regulated  by  the  registration  of  voters, 
and  by  the  direct  primary;  the  Circuit  Courts  had  to  be 
helped  out  by  Criminal  Courts,  Superior  Courts,  and  Juve- 
nile Courts,  while  some  cases,  such  as  the  Constitution  al- 
lowed have  been  taken  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Suprente 
Court  and  given  to  the  Appellate  Court.  Finally,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  has  been  forced  to  acknowledge  its  inability 
to  legislate  concerning  the  details  of  the  public  utilities,  and 
so  a  Public  Service  Commission  with  wide  powers  has  been 


150  INDIANA 

formed.  Indeed,  the  complexity  of  the  government  of  this 
State  and  the  extent  of  its  activity  in  caring  for  the  public 
weal  is  difficult  to  comprehend.  This  complexity,  combined 
with  the  fact  that  the  determination  of  policy  means  thou- 
sands of  dollars  to  certain  business  interests,  makes  possible 
a  thing  known  as  machine  rule.  The  result  is  that  the  cit- 
ies are  inefficiently,  if  not  corruptly,  governed,  and  that  the 
Legislature  is  controlled  by  a  minority  that  happens  to  con- 
stitute the  majority  of  the  party  in  power.  The  remedy 
lies  partly  in  making  possible  the  control  of  office  holders, 
and  partly  in  finding  some  way  to  prove  to  the  honest  and 
intelligent  voter  that  he  has  an  interest  in  politics  that 
makes  it  worth  his  while  to  initiate  and  continue  a  ceaseless 
fight  for  honesty  and  efficiency  in  Government.  It  is  im- 
possible to  create  this  conviction  of  interest  until  the  sys- 
tem is  so  changed  that  the  average  man  feels  there  is  a 
possibility,  nay,  a  fair  chance  for  the  honest  voter  to  ex- 
press himself  effectively. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Finances 

In  the  chapter  on  Government  it  was  shown  that  the 
one  time  arbitrary  power  of  the  Township  Trustees  and  of 
the  County  Commissioners  has  been  limited  by  the  creation 
of  new  bodies  that  control  the  tax  rate  and  appropriate  the 
public  funds.  In  other  words,  the  power  to  raise  and  to 
spend  money  is  looked  upon  as  the  most  vital  thing  in  gov- 
ernment. It  is,  therefore,  well  worth  while  to  devote  a  few 
pages  to  a  description  of  the  methods  of  handling  public 
funds  in  Indiana,  and  to  point  out  incidentally  some  of  the 
reasons  why  the  method  of  taxation  is  becoming  one  of  the 
most  acute  of  the  problems  in  the  State. 

In  1891  Indiana  completely  revised  her  revenue  laws 
and  stood  in  the  van  of  the  states  so  far  as  taxation  was 
concerned,  but  since  then  she  has  made  very  little  progress 
and  one  by  one  the  other  commonwealths  have  slipped  by 
her  until  now  her  system  is  certainly  antiquated.  Part  of 
the  blame  lies  in  the  Constitution  which  requires  that  "the 
General  Assembly  shall  provide,  by  law,  for  a  uniform  and 
equal  rate  of  assessment  and  taxation;  and  shall  prescribe 
such  regulations  as  shall  secure  a  just  valuation  for  taxation 
of  all  property,  both  real  and  personal,  excepting  such  only 
for  municipal,  educational,  literary,  scientific,  religious,  or 
charitable  purposes,  as  may  be  specially  exempted  by  law." 
In  short,  it  is  made  imperative  by  the  fundamental  law  that 
all  property  not  belonging  to  the  small  classes  which  may 
be  specifically  exempted,  be  assessed  and  taxed  at  the  same 
rate.  The  pernicious  results  of  this  provision  will  appear 
as  the  exposition  develops.  Another  part  of  the  blame  falls 
on  the  General  Assembly  in  its  attempts  to  interpret  the 
Constitution  and  to  apply  it,  and  a  third  portion  of  the 
trouble  has  been  due  to  the  inability  of  the  voters  to  see 
where  their  real  interests  lie. 


152  INDIANA 

The  Poll  Tax. 

The  law  requires  that  every  male  between  the  ages  of 
twenty-one  and  fifty  years  shall  be  listed  at  his  place  of 
residence  and  required  to  pay  a  poll  tax.  This  tax  varies 
from  one  dollar  to  over  six,  according  to  the  location  of  the 
home  of  the  payer.  A  more  inequitable  tax  can  hardly  be 
conceived.  In  the  first  place,  the  payment  is  in  no  imagin- 
able way  based  upon  the  ability  of  the  individual.  The 
poorest  and  the  richest  are  alike  before  this  law.  In  the 
second  place,  there  is  no  good  reason  for  not  levying  upon 
women  as  well  as  men,  if  individuality  is  to  be  a  basis  of 
taxation,  for  it  is  as  certain  that  there  are  women  well  able 
to  pay  a  poll  tax,  as  that  there  are  men  who  have  not  the 
means.  The  sweeping  condemnation  of  the  poll  tax,  how- 
ever, fundamentally  rests  upon  the  fact  that  there  is  no 
theory  of  fair  dealing,  of  justice  in  its  highest  sense,  to  war- 
rant the  laying  of  an  impost  on  persons  because  they  are 
living  and  have  attained  a  certain  age. 

Exemptions. 

The  other  main  base  of  taxation  is  property.  Real 
property  consists  of  "all  lands  within  the  state  and  all  build- 
ings and  fixtures  thereon  and  appurtenances  thereto,  ex- 
cepting in  cases  otherwise  expressly  provided  by  law." 
Practically  everything  else  is  personal  property.  The  Con- 
stitutional clause  allowing  exemptions  has  been  stretched  to 
the  breaking  point  in  finding  objects  to  exempt  from  taxa- 
tion. It  is  undoubtedly  wise  to  free  from  taxes  property  of 
the  United  States,  the  state,  the  counties,  the  municipalities, 
and  schools,  for  these  things  are  supported  by  taxation,  and 
to  assess  them  would  be  sheer  folly  and  useless  expense. 
Likewise,  it  is  simple  prudence  to  exempt  the  bonds  and 
notes  issued  by  the  state  or  its  subdivisions.  There  has 
been  a  great  deal  of  objection  to  the  issuing  of  tax  free 
bonds,  especially  those  for  financing  gravel  roads.  These 
bonds  often  sell  at  a  premium.  If  they  were  made  taxable 
the  interest  rate  on  the  actual  selling  price  would  have  to 
be  made  far  higher,  so  that  what  was  gained  in  revenue 
would  be  paid  out  in  the  additional  interest.  Furthermore, 
if  the  exemption  were  abolished,  men  who  have  been  in- 
duced to  purchase  these  bonds  would  be  tempted  to  invest 
in  foreign  securities  that  could  be  sequestered. 


FINANCES  153 

Lands  and  buildings  used  for  educational,  literary,  scien- 
tific, and  charitable  purposes,  land  purchased  with  the  bona 
fide  purpose  of  erecting  buildings  for  their  use,  and  the  en- 
dowments of  these  institutions,  churches,  their  furniture 
and  parsonages,  and  bequests  for  certain  charitable,  relig- 
ious, and  educational  purposes,  seem  to  be,  on  the  whole, 
wisely  omitted  from  the  tax  duplicate.  To  exempt  the  land, 
not  exceeding  one  acre,  the  buildings  and  the  improvements, 
and  the  personal  property  of  Greek  letter  fraternities  con- 
nected with  colleges  and  "under  their  supervision"  is  high- 
ly undemocratic.  The  law  allows  the  students  rich  enough 
to  belong  to  these  bodies,  whose  activities  are  essentially 
sociable  rather  than  religious  or  educational,  to  escape  that 
contribution  to  the  state  which  poorer  students,  forced  to 
room  in  private  houses,  have  to  make  indirectly  in  their  room 
rents.  As  the  exemption  of  the  college  Greek  letter  frater- 
nities is  certainly  unjustified,  that  of  dormitories  built  by 
churches  for  the  accommodation  of  college  students,  but  not 
under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  college  authorities, 
and  that  of  the  property  of  other  fraternal  orders  is  also 
wrong.  There  is  no  reason  for  exempting  any  institution 
that  does  not  contribute  in  some  tangible  way  all  of  its  re- 
sources to  the  social  uplifting  of  the  community.  Lodges 
are  in  many  cases  of  very  questionable  value  to  the  com- 
munity ;  rather  is  their  function  sociable,  the  affording  of  a 
good  time  to  the  members.  As  it  would  be  impossible  prac- 
tically to  distinguish  between  the  orders  worthy  of  exemp- 
tion and  those  unworthy,  it  is  the  only  wise  course  to  tax 
them  all. 

Finally,  the  law  exempts  mortgaged  real  estate  up  to  an 
amount  equal  to  the  mortgage,  but  not  exceeding  seven  hun- 
dred dollars  or  one-half  of  the  value  of  the  real  estate.  If 
then  a  man  owns  a  ten  thousand  dollar  farm  on  which  there 
is  a  four  thousand  dollar  mortgage,  he  has  to  pay  taxes  on 
ninety-three  hundred  dollars,  or  on  thirty-three  hundred 
dollars  more  than  his  equity,  his  actual  property.  Thus 
the  farmer  who  is  trying  to  pay  for  his  farm  or  is  borrow- 
ing to  improve  it,  pays  taxes  on  property  which  he  really 
does  not  own.  At  the  same  time  the  holder  of  the  mort- 
gage is  taxed  on  the  full  value  of  the  mortgage.  It  would 
be  simply  fair  to  exempt  the  mortgage  entirely,  or  else  to 
value  the  farm  at  its  equity  value  to  the  owner,  provided 
the  mortgage  is  registered.  Thus  it  is  apparent  that  the 


154  INDIANA 

law  makes  some  exemptions  that  are  certainly  wise,  some 
that  are  certainly  unwise,  some  that  are  of  questionable 
wisdom,  and  one  that  is  grossly  inadequate. 

Assessment. 

With  certain  exceptions,  that  will  be  noted  later,  the 
real  estate  and  personal  property  are  both  made  to  yield 
their  contribution  to  the  state  thru  the  general  prop- 
erty tax.  Every  four  years  each  township  elects  a  Town- 
ship Assessor,  who  may  appoint  deputies  to  aid  him  in  the 
work  of  fixing  the  values  of  the  property.  The  county  Au- 
ditor gives  him  a  list  of  the  lands  and  owners,  from  which 
he  makes  a  valuation  of  real  estate  once  in  his  term,  but 
every  year  he  visits  the  individual  citizens  and  secures  a 
list  of  all  their  personal  property  at  its  fair  price  at  a  vol- 
untary sale;  at  this  annual  round  he  also  assesses  any  im- 
provements on  real  estate.  The  valuations  of  personalty 
are  made  between  the  first  of  March  and  the  fifteenth  of 
May,  and  the  owner  of  March  first  is  taxed.  The  Township 
Assessor  must  hand  over  his  completed  blanks  to  the  Coun- 
ty Auditor  before  the  first  Monday  in  June.  In  general  it 
may  be  said  that  the  taxes  on  real  estate  have  to  be  paid  at 
the  place  where  that  property  is  situated  and  that  those  on 
personal  property  are  to  be  paid  by  the  owner  at  the  place 
where  he  resides,  but  there  are  many  exceptions  to  the  lat- 
ter rule. 

All  of  the  County  Assessors  in  the  state  assemble  for 
an  annual  conference  in  Indianapolis,  at  which  meeting  the 
problems  of  assessment  are  discussed  and  the  State  Board 
interprets  the  laws.  On  his  return,  the  County  Assessor 
calls  together  the  Township  Assessors  and  communicates 
to  them  his  instructions.  The  County  Assessor  receives 
the  returns  from  the  Auditor  and  examines  them  thoroly, 
making  any  additions  he  can  be  sure  of.  If  he  thinks  that 
property  has  been  concealed,  and  can  persuade  the  County 
Commissioners  to  furnish  the  funds,  he  may  visit  other 
places  to  investigate.  After  he  has  checked  the  work  of 
the  Township  Assessors,  the  County  Assessor  reports  to 
the  Auditor,  but  he  may  make  special  reports  at  any  time 
that  he  discovers  any  property  which  has  been  omitted. 

The  County  Board  of  Review,  consisting  of  the  County 
Assessor,  the  Auditor,  the  Treasurer,  and  two  other  free- 
holders appointed  by  the  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  next 


FINANCES  155 

takes  up  the  returns  and  canvasses  them,  altho  the  law  re- 
quires a  thoro  examination  the  work  is  often  poorly  done. 
This  Board  may  change  any  assessment,  may  order  a  re- 
assessment, in  any  Township,  and  must  pass  separately  on 
every  assessment.  In  determining  values,  the  Board  may 
examine  witnesses  under  oath,  and  it  sits  to  hear  complaints 
of  persons  who  think  themselves  aggrieved.  When  the 
Board,  whose  session  is  limited  in  length  according  to  the 
population  of  the  county,  has  affixed  its  valuations  on  all  the 
property  that  comes  within  its  jurisdiction,  the  County  Au- 
ditor may  safely  begin  work  upon  the  tax  duplicate.  This 
list  of  taxable  property  owned  by  each  individual  must  be 
given  to  the  Treasurer  before  the  first  of  January,  and  an 
abstract  forwarded  to  the  Auditor  of  State.  The  County 
Auditor  may  add  property  that  he  learns  has  been  omitted, 
and  he  is  obligated  to  correct  the  duplicate  at  frequent  in- 
tervals. 

On  the  first  Monday  in  April,  thirteen  months  after  the 
assessment  was  originally  made,  the  State  Board  of  Tax 
Commissioners,  consisting  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Au- 
ditor of  State,  and  three  men  appointed  by  the  Governor, 
meets.  This  Board  must  equalize  the  county  valuations, 
after  due  opportunity  for  interested  parties  to  present  their 
views.  It  may  happen  that  in  one  county  all  property  has 
been  assessed  at  an  approximate  average  of  fifty  per  cent  of 
its  fair  market  value,  while  for  the  state  as  a  whole  the 
average  has  been  fifty-five  per  cent.  Then  the  State  Board 
may  order  that  particular  County  Board  of  Review  to  raise 
all  assessments  in  its  jurisdiction  ten  per  cent.  Of  course 
all  property  is  nominally  assessed  at  one  hundred  per  cent  of 
its  fair  market  value,  but  no  one  pretends  that  this  is  ac- 
tually the  case.  Indeed,  so  far  is  it  from  the  truth  that 
one  year,  for  example,  the  State  Board  actually  passed 
around  the  hint  that  money  in  the  bank  should  be  set  down 
at  seventy  per  cent  of  its  actual  amount.  Nevertheless,  the 
State  Board  has  accomplished  a  great  deal  of  good  by  bring- 
ing about  an  approximate  equality  between  the  assessment 
rates  in  the  different  counties.  Equalization,  however,  is 
not  the  sole  function  of  the  State  Tax  Commissioners,  for 
they  are  a  final  court  of  appeals  as  to  assessments;  and  to 
them  any  one  dissatisfied  with  the  decision  of  his  County 
Board  of  Review  may  turn  for  relief.  In  case  of  such  ap- 
peal the  State  Board  may  actually  make  the  assessment  of 


156  INDIANA 

the  property  in  question.  Moreover,  at  its  annual  meeting 
the  Board  sets  the  valuations  upon  railroad  track,  improve- 
ments and  rolling  stock,  palace  car  companies,  express  and 
fast  freight  companies,  telephone  and  telegraph  companies, 
and  some  other  classes  of  firms  and  corporations.  In  the 
case  of  companies  engaged  in  transportation,  or  in  the  trans- 
mission of  intelligence,  the  real  estate  is  assessed  locally  by 
the  Township  Assessor,  but  the  State  Board  determines  by 
calculations  starting  with  the  stock  and  bond  quotations  the 
total  value  of  the  corporate  property  within  Indiana,  and 
then  apportions  it  between  the  counties  and  municipalities 
on  a  mileage  basis.  Thus  the  great  part  of  the  assessment 
of  these  corporations  falls  upon  the  State  Board. 

The  assessment  of  corporations  involves  other  impor- 
tant points.  Foreign  insurance  companies  pay  to  the  state 
three  dollars  on  every  one  hundred  dollars  of  premiums  re- 
ceived in  Indiana  after  the  Indiana  losses  have  been  de- 
ducted. This  payment  is  made  every  six  months.  All  do- 
mestic corporations  not  otherwise  provided  for  make  annual- 
ly a  statement  to  the  County  Auditor  on  forms  prescribed 
by  the  Auditor  of  State.  This  statement  is  presented  by 
the  County  Auditor  to  the  Board  of  Review.  This  Board 
then  puts  a  value  upon  all  capital  stock,  privileges,  and  fran- 
chises. If  this  capital  value  exceeds  the  value  of  the  real 
and  personal  property  as  assessed,  the  difference  in  values,  or 
"corporate  excess"  also  is  taxed.  Since  the  company  pays 
taxes,  the  owner  of  stock  in  an  Indiana  Corporation  is  not 
obliged  to  include  it  in  his  list  for  the  Township  Assessor. 
Banks  are  similarly  taxed.  The  President  and  Cashier 
must  give  to  the  County  Auditor  a  sworn  statement  of  the 
number  and  the  market  value  of  the  shares  and  of  the 
names  of  the  owners.  Then  the  County  Board  of  Review 
fixes  the  final  valuation  of  the  institution.  The  stock  is 
then  assessed  to  the  owners  at  the  location  of  the  bank.  As 
a  rule  the  stockholders  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege  of 
having  the  bank  pay  the  tax  and  deduct  it  from  the  divi- 
dends. 

Many  details  in  the  process  of  assessing  have  been 
passed  over  in  this  brief  description,  but  it  will  be  noted 
that  nearly  every  valuation  is  checked  many  times.  Altho 
the  County  Auditor,  the  County  Assessor,  and  the  County 
Treasurer  are  always  on  the  alert  to  detect  omitted  prop- 
erty, some  counties  have  found  it  advantageous  to  employ 


FINANCES  157 

tax  ferrets,  men  whose  business  it  is  to  locate  possessions 
which  the  owners  have  not  reported.  Notwithstanding  all 
of  these  precautions  of  the  officials,  and  in  spite  of  the  oaths 
required  of  individuals  assessed,  a  great  deal  of  taxable 
property  is  not  reported.  The  trouble  is  this :  in  order  that 
a  county  may  have  a  small  share  of  the  state  burdens  the 
county  officials  are  sorely  tempted  to  minimize  the  valua- 
tions. In  other  words,  as  the  state  tax  can  be  escaped  par- 
tially by  returning  low  county  valuations,  tax  payers  and 
officials  tacitly  cooperate  to  evade  the  burden.  But,  since 
the  same  principle  holds  true  among  the  townships  of  a 
county,  each  Township  Assessor  is  likely  to  prove  his  fit- 
ness for  office  by  reporting  low  values:  thus  he  gains  popu- 
larity. Finally,  there  are  always  numerous  men  who  are 
ready  to  lie:  they  conceal  their  securities  or  jewelry  in  a 
safe  deposit  box,  they  understate  the  value  of  their  posses- 
sions, or  they  manufacture  debts  to  counterbalance  their 
assets.  As  they  are  not  taxed  on  what  they  own,  an  extra 
burden  is  thrown  upon  the  absolutely  upright.  In  self-de- 
fense the  honestly  inclined  individuals  have  to  begin  con- 
cealing part  of  their  wealth.  Expenses  continue  to  increase, 
so  the  tax  rates  rise  until  in  several  cities  they  have  reached 
five  per  cent.  This  is  almost  as  much  as  money  will  earn 
when  safely  invested.  In  such  circumstances  a  man  who 
will  report  all  he  owns  is  a  fool  for  allowing  himself  to  be 
imposed  upon  by  his  dishonest  neighbors;  a  man  who  fails 
to  report  all  his  belongings  perjures  himself.  The  result 
has  been  reached  that  the  owner  of  real  estate  whose  prop- 
erty cannot  be  hidden,  and  the  farmer  whose  implements 
and  stock  cannot  be  concealed  is  heavily  taxed  while  a 
man  whose  wealth  is  invested  in  foreign  securities  is  per- 
mitted to  escape  the  burdens.  Today,  as  an  example,  much 
Indiana  money  is  sent  east  to  be  invested,  while  the  foreign 
insurance  companies  hold  the  mortgages  on  many  Indiana 
farms. 

Not  only  is  the  system  one  which  necessarily  conduces 
to  dishonesty,  but  the  assessors  are  inferior  men.  Two  and 
a  half  dollars  a  day  is  not  sufficient  to  command  capable 
brains  and  the  consequence  is  the  employment  of  a  small 
army  of  worn  out  politicians  to  determine  what  people  own. 
The  "general  property  tax"  in  Indiana  is,  therefore,  a  fail- 
ure from  the  administrative  point  of  view,  because  it  makes 
concealment  easy  and  extremely  advantageous. 


158  INDIANA 

Impossible  from  the  administrative  standpoint,  "The 
general  property  tax"  is  ethically  unjustifiable.  Different 
forms  of  property  yield  income  at  vastly  different  rates,  and 
therefore,  should  not  be  taxed  uniformly.  Does  it  seem 
fair  to  tax  at  the  same  rate  the  library  of  the  college  pro- 
fessor, who  uses  his  books  as  a  tool  in  earning  his  living, 
and  that  a  lady  who  uses  hers  for  amusement  only,  and  the 
diamonds  of  the  belle  and  the  thrashing  machine  of  the 
farmer?  Is  it  equitable  to  assess  at  the  same  rate  the  home 
of  the  mechanic  who  is  desperately  struggling  to  increase 
his  earnings  by  a  hundred  dollars  or  so  a  year,  and  the  man- 
sion of  the  rich  man  who  is  easily  and  rapidly  accumulating 
wealth?  The  burden  of  the  payment  depends  not  primari- 
ly upon  the  amount,  nor  mainly  upon  the  rate,  but  essen- 
tially upon  what  is  left  after  the  settlement.  To  double 
the  mechanic's  tax  may  wipe  out  his  entire  margin  for  sav- 
ing, to  double  that  of  the  rich  man  may  entail  no  sacrifice 
at  all,  and  at  worst  means  the  cutting  off  of  some  luxury  not 
essential  to  his  life.  On  the  other  hand,  halving  the  rate 
of  the  mechanic  might  enable  him  to  purchase  enough  life 
insurance  to  assure  the  independence  of  his  family  after 
his  death,  while  cutting  in  two  the  rate  for  the  rich  man 
might  allow  him  an  extra  span  of  blooded  horses,  or  another 
bond  in  his  safe  deposit  box.  There  is  no  justice  in  the  gen- 
eral property  tax. 

Rates  and  Collections. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  the  rates  of  taxation  for 
the  smaller  divisions  of  the  state  are  fixed  by  the  local  au- 
thorities. Suppose,  for  example,  one  lives  in  a  city.  The 
rate  he  pays  is  fixed  as  follows:  the  City  Council  has  de- 
termined the  municipal  rate,  the  Township  Advisory  Board 
has  set  the  township  rate,  and  the  County  Council  has  fixed 
the  county  tax.  All  these  rates,  together  with  the  rate 
fixed  by  the  state  authorities  and  that  determined  by  the 
local  School  Trustees,  are  certified  to  the  County  Auditor, 
and  he  enters  the  amounts  due  on  the  tax  duplicate.  To 
this  will  be  added  the  poll  taxes  levied  by  the  state,  the 
county,  the  township,  and  the  city,  and  a  dog  tax  if  he  pos- 
sesses such  property.  Then  there  may  be  a  special  assess- 
ment to  pay  an  installment  on  a  sewer,  sidewalk,  or  road 
that  has  benefited  the  real  property  which  he  owns. 


FINANCES  159 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  completed  tax  duplicate 
was  left  by  the  Auditor  in  the  hands  of  the  County  Treas- 
urer. This  official  has  an  office  at  the  county  seat  and  may 
open  temporary  offices  in  other  towns  for  the  convenience 
of  their  inhabitants.  All  of  the  road  taxes  and  one-half  of 
the  other  taxes  must  be  paid  to  him,  by  the  first  Monday  in 
May,  and  the  balance  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in  No- 
vember. Thus  the  first  installment  of  the  tax  comes  due 
fourteen  months  after  the  property  was  assessed.  The  col- 
lection of  these  taxes  may  be  enforced  by  the  sale  of  the 
real  estate  or  of  personal  property. 

On  the  first  day  of  every  month  the  County  Treasurer 
is  required,  upon  the  authority  of  a  warrant  drawn  by  the 
Auditor,  to  pay  into  the  State  Treasury  approximately  all 
the  funds  belonging  to  the  commonwealth  that  are  in  his 
possession.  Complete  settlements  with  the  State  Treasur- 
er are  required  in  June  and  December,  but  a  sum,  which  is 
approximately  equal  to  the  school  fund  moneys  that  will  be 
returned  to  the  county,  may  be  remitted  in  certificates  of 
deposit.  The  proper  amounts  are  paid  over  to  the  Town- 
ship Trustees,  to  the  Town  and  City  Treasurers,  and  to 
School  Trustees  on  the  warrant  of  the  Auditor.  The  rest  of 
the  funds  are  disbursed  as  ordered  by  the  County  Auditor 
or  by  the  Controller  of  the  county  seat  city  or  by  the  official 
entrusted  with  his  work. 

Depositories. 

The  State  has  a  Board  of  Finance  composed  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, the  Auditor  of  State,  and  the  Treasurer  of  State; 
likewise,  the  counties,  cities,  towns,  townships,  and  school 
corporations  have  their  Boards  of  Finance.  It  is  the  duty 
of  these  Boards  to  choose  the  institutions  in  which  the 
funds  are  to  be  deposited.  The  depositories  must  be  in- 
stitutions that  submit  to  examinations  by  either  the  nation- 
al or  state  bank  officials,  and  they  must  each  give  a  bond 
signed  by  seven  freeholders  for  sixty  per  cent  of  the  maxi- 
mum public  deposits,  but  they  may  offer  instead  bonds  rest- 
ing on  the  tax  power  within  Indiana  and  deposited  with  the 
Auditor  of  State.  They  must  pay  interest  of  two  per  cent 
on  daily  balances  and  more  on  time  deposits.  These  provis- 
ions are  sufficient  to  make  the  public  funds  almost  abso- 
lutely secure,  altho  there  is  occasionally  a  failure  that  in- 
volves some  loss,  usually  small. 


160  INDIANA 

Supervision. 

In  addition  to  its  duties  in  the  equalization  and  adjust- 
ment of  assessments,  the  State  Tax  Board  is  required  to 
hear  complaints.  It  is,  moreover,  commissioned  to  be  on 
standardize  partially  the  work  of  the  county  finance  officials. 
It  prescribes  the  blank  forms  used  in  making  the  valuations, 
it  sees  that  all  assessments  are  made  according  to  law,  it 
secures  the  collection  of  all  taxes  due  the  state,  and  it  sends 
one  of  the  appointed  members  to  each  county  annually  to 
hear  complaints.  It  is,  moreover,  commissioned  to  be  on 
the  alert  for  possible  improvements  in  the  state  tax  system, 
and  to  make  recommendations  to  the  General  Assembly. 
Another  and  equally  important  agency  of  oversight  is  the 
Department  of  Inspection  and  Supervision,  at  the  head  of 
which  is  the  State  Examiner,  a  skilled  accountant  appointed 
by  the  Governor.  The  Governor,  the  Examiner,  and  the 
Auditor  of  State  comprise  the  State  Board  of  Accounts. 
They  prescribe  a  system  of  accounting  uniform'  for  every 
public  office  of  the  same  class,  and  they  devise  methods  of 
keeping  separate  the  accounts  of  the  different  funds  and  of 
making  reports.  The  Department  of  Inspection  and  Super- 
vision sends  out  men  who  examine  at  least  once  a  year  the 
accounts  of  all  public  officers  intrusted  with  the  custody  of 
money.  These  examinations,  coupled  with  the  requirement 
of  reports,  have  been  of  great  value  in  securing  accuracy 
and  efficiency  in  the  mechanics  of  handling  funds. 
A  Step  Forward. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1913  adopted  a  law  providing 
for  a  tax  on  inheritances  and  bequests.  Ten  thousand  dol- 
lars is  exempt  to  the  widow;  the  first  fifteen  thousand  dol- 
lars beyond  that  is  taxed  one  per  cent,  and  larger  amounts  at 
higher  rates.  Similarly,  a  person  entirely  unrelated  to  the 
decedent  has  to  pay  five  per  cent  on  the  first  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  and  increasing  rates  up  to  fifteen  per  cent 
on  all  above  five  hundred  thousand.  The  rate  is  thus  pro- 
gressive— advancing  with  the  size  of  the  inheritance  or  be- 
quest, and  differentiated — augmenting  as  the  degree  of  kin- 
ship lessens. 

There  are  many  ways  of  justifying  the  Inheritance  Tax. 
Perhaps  the  best  of  them  is  the  theory  that  all  accumula- 
tion of  wealth  is  a  result  of  two  factors  among  others,  the 
ability  of  the  man,  and  the  opportunity  for  him  to  exercise 


FINANCES  161 

that  ability.  It  is  only  fair  that  at  some  time  society  should 
receive  some  return  for  its  contribution,  the  opportunity, 
and  the  Inheritance  Tax  is  an  easy  way  of  securing  this 
return.  Another  justification  attacks  the  problem  from  an 
entirely  different  angle.  For  one  who  has  not  produced 
property  to  receive  it  without  making  compensation  is  not  a 
right  but  a  privilege.  If  the  heir  received  nothing  at  all 
by  inheritance  he  would  receive  not  a  whit  less  than  he  hin> 
self  earned.  Therefore,  the  appropriation  of  an  estate  by 
the  commonwealth  deprives  no  one  of  what  he  has  deserved ; 
on  the  other  hand,  this  seizure  lessens  the  necessary  bur- 
dens of  the  struggling  tax  payers.  There  is  no  doubt  but 
that  the  inheritance  tax  is  in  line  with  the  needs  of  demo- 
cracy. 

Criticisms. 

In  spite  of  this  recent  forward  step,  the  tax  system  of 
Indiana  is  intolerable.  There  is  no  virtue  in  multiplying 
illustrations,  or  in  picking  specific  flaws.  It  is  enough  to  re- 
iterate that  the  General  Property  Tax  has  long  been  dis- 
credited on  grounds  of  ethical  justice,  and  is  overwhelm- 
ingly a  failure  in  Indiana  from  the  standpoint  of  enforce- 
ment. The  method  of  assessing  corporations  is  approxi- 
mately fair  in  theory  for  a  state  having  the  General  Prop- 
erty Tax,  but  it  would  be  more  equitable  if  every  corporation 
had  to  pay  taxes  to  the  state  as  to  the  Federal  Government, 
on  the  basis  of  its  net  income.  The  General  Assembly  of 
1915  created  a  special  commission  of  five  persons  to  investi- 
gate the  problem  of  taxation  in  Indiana.  These  men  have  a 
great  opportunity,  but  they  are  confronted  with  the  fact 
that  nothing  short  of  a  complete  revolution  will  better  the 
financial  system  of  Indiana.  As  one  of  the  Commissioners 
has  expressed  it,  "No  change  could  give  us  anything  worse." 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Constitution 


The  history  of  Indiana's  Constitution  inspires  neither 
love  nor  admiration.  The  commonwealths  of  the  union  have 
had  altogether  approximately  one  hundred  fifty  new  or 
thoroly  revised  constitutions,  most  of  which  exhibit  a  strong 
family  resemblance.  In  this  respect  Indiana  is  pre-emi- 
nently commonplace.  The  original  frame  of  government, 
constructed  in  1816,  was  largely  copied  from  similar  instru- 
ments adopted  in  Kentucky  in  1792  and  in  Ohio  in  1803,  with 
other  bits  taken  from  the  United  States  Constitution,  and  an 
occasional  original  provision.  It  is  small  wonder  that  so 
much  of  this  document  was  hastily  thrown  together  by  the 
convention  at  Corydon,  for  the  harvest  season  was  close  at 
hand  and  the  delegates  were  as  eager  to  return  home  to 
work  as  they  were  to  escape  the  miserable  accommodations 
of  the  tiny  capital.  That  the  work  could  have  been  complet- 
ed in  a  session  lasting  only  from  the  tenth  to  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  June  was,  it  has  been  said,  at  least  partially  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  Noble,  Hendricks,  and  Jennings  factions 
had  agreed  that  Noble  should  be  United  States  Senator,  that 
Hendricks  should  go  to  Congress,  and  that  Jennings  should 
be  the  first  Governor  of  the  new  state.  They  were  in  a 
hurry  to  divide  the  offices. 

Before  long  the  faults  in  the  1816  Constitution  began 
to  appear,  but,  altho  several  times  a  referendum  was  taken 
on  the  question  of  calling  another  convention,  there  was  no 
general  interest  in  revising  the  document.  In  1849,  how- 
ever, every  man  coming  to  the  polls  to  vote  was  asked  to 
express  himself  orally  as  "for"  or  "against"  the  calling  of 
the  constitutional  convention.  By  a  vote  of  81,500  to  57,418' 
the  convention  was  decided  upon.  It  met  7  October,  1850,, 
the  Democrat  members  outnumbering  the  Whigs  nearly  twcr 
to  one.  The  result  was  that  there  was  a  general  application 
of  Jacksonian  principles  especially  evident  in  the  changes 


THE    CONSTITUTION  163 

from  the  appointive  to  the  elective  system  of  choosing  many 
officials,  and  in  the  provisions  for  rotation  in  office  by  the 
limitation  of  terms.  For  example,  the  Governorship  can 
be  held  by  one  individual  but  four  years  in  any  eight.  In 
spite  of  Whig  criticisms  of  the  convention  the  new  Consti- 
tution was  adopted  by  the  overwhelming  majority  of  113,230 
to  27,638. 

Difficulty  of  Amendment. 

Altho  it  had  taken  one  hundred  twenty-six  days  for  this 
convention  to  conclude  its  labors,  dissatisfaction  immediate- 
ly appeared.  Men  wanted  a  return  to  the  annual  sessions 
of  the  Legislature,  they  desired  to  keep  persons  who  were 
not  citizens  of  the  United  States  from  voting,  they  chafed 
under  a  Supreme  Court  interpretation  that  prevented  pro- 
gressive sections  from  radically  improving  their  common 
schools.  Nevertheless,  a  proposal  for  another  convention 
was  defeated  in  1859.  After  the  Civil  War,  however,  cer- 
tain changes  were  necessary  to  avoid  conflict  with  the  Four- 
teenth and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion. The  first  alteration  was  made  in  1873.  The  Con- 
stitution provides  that  any  amendment  must  be  first  ap- 
proved by  two  successive  Legislatures  and  then  finally 
ratified  by  a  majority  of  the  electorate  of  the  state.  Af- 
ter several  farcical  ballots,  seven  amendments  were  voted 
upon  at  the  April  election  in  1879.  As  the  total  number  of 
votes  cast  at  this  election  was  380,000,  that  figure  repre- 
sented the  number  of  electors  in  the  state  and  190,001  was 
a  majority.  Altho  every  amendment  was  favored  by  a  sub- 
stantial majority  of  the  persons  expressing  themselves  upon 
it,  the  highest  vote  for  any  amendment  was  181,000.  The 
State  Supreme  Court,  therefore,  held  that  none  of  the 
amendments  had  been  adopted.  Moreover,  none  had  been 
rejected,  for  there  had  not  been  a  majority  of  electors 
against  any  of  the  proposed  changes.  So,  because  no  action 
had  been  taken,  the  Court  intimated  that  a  special  election 
might  be  called.  This  was  done  by  the  next  General  As- 
sembly, and  on  March  14,  1881,  the  special  referendum 
was  taken.  Not  one  proposition  received  more  than  128,750 
votes,  yet  each  had  a  good  majority  of  those  who  did  vote. 
Each  of  these  amendments  has  been  allowed  to  be  valid 
under  the  absurd  but  saving  "legal  fiction"  that  the  number 
voting  at  a  special  election  is  the  number  of  electors  in  the 


164  INDIANA 

state.  Thus,  by  a  striking  violation  of  the  whole  intent  of 
its  amending  article  the  Constitution  was  "legally"  changed. 
Amendment  was  again  attempted  when  in  1900  the 
people  were  asked  to  vote  on  two  changes,  one  enlarging  the 
Supreme  Court  and  the  other  allowing  the  Legislature  to 
enact  statutory  requirements  for  admission  to  the  bar.  A 
substantial  majority  of  almost  two  to  one  favored  each 
change,  but  the  higher  affirmative  vote,  314,610,  for  the  en- 
largement of  the  Supreme  Court,  was  less  than  half  of  the 
vote  for  Secretary  of  State,  655,000,  and  so  neither  was 
carried.  Several  subsequent  votes  were  taken  on  the  sec- 
ond— the  Lawyers'  Amendment.  The  last,  in  1910,  re- 
sulted in  60,357  for  and  18,494  against  the  change.  In  1911 
the  State  Supreme  Court  declared  that  by  virtue  of  the  fact 
that  it  had  been  neither  accepted  nor  rejected  this  amend- 
ment still  stood  "obstructive  of  further  proposals  for  amend- 
ment" by  reason  of  the  constitutional  provision  that  "while 
such  an  amendment  or  group  of  amendments  which  shall 
have  been  agreed  upon  by  one  General  Assembly  shall  be 
awaiting  the  action  of  the  succeeding  General  Assembly,  or 
of  the  electors,  no  additional  amendment  or  amendments 
shall  be  proposed."  Now,  to  summarize  the  condition  of 
Indiana, — it  was  universally  recognized  that  certain  altera- 
tions in  the  Constitution  were  imperative;  one  change  had 
been  put  to  the  electors  in  1900,  but  had  failed  to  be  ratified 
because  an  affirmative  majority  of  all  voters  is  required  by 
the  Constitution ;  yet  no  other  amendment  could  be  proposed 
because  this  change  was  still,  after  a  dozen  years,  technical- 
ly neither  adopted  nor  rejected.  There  seemed  to  be  three 
possible  ways  out  of  the  difficulty ;  a  special  election  might, 
under  the  old  legal  fiction,  be  held  to  dispose  of  these  two 
proposals ;  a  convention  might  be  called  by  the  Legislature ; 
or  a  new  expedient,  credited  to  Governor  Marshall,  might 
be  tried.  As  either  of  the  first  two  methods  would  have 
been  expensive  and  therefore  unpopular,  the  Democrats  in 
the  1911  General  Assembly  drew  up  what  they  called  a  new 
constitution.  It  was  merely  the  constitution  of  1851  with 
twenty-five  sections  more  or  less  changed  and  four  new  ones 
added  or  substituted.  These  alterations  were  mostly  in  ac- 
cord with  progress,  but  they  failed  to  reach  some  of  the 
worst  evils  in  the  present  system.  The  principal  virtue  of 
Marshall's  constitution  lay  in  the  changes  proposed  in  the 
method  of  amendment,  changes  that  made  further  alteration 


THE    CONSTITUTION  165 

possible.  This  constitution  was  to  have  been  submitted  to 
the  people  for  acceptance  or  rejection  as  a  whole  at  the  1912 
election.  Thus  it  was  hoped  to  evade  all  the  restrictions  of 
the  present  amendment  article  by  invoking  part  of  the  bill 
of  rights  which  proclaims  that  "the  people  have  at  all  times 
an  indefeasible  right  to  alter  and  reform  their  government." 
Mr.  John  T.  Dye,  however,  obtained  an  order  restraining 
Secretary  of  State  Ellingham  and  the  state  election  commis- 
sioners from  placing  the  question  of  the  adoption  of  this 
new  constitution  before  the  people  because  the  power  to 
alter  or  to  reform  the  government  lay  in  these  people.  The 
reasoning  may  appear  clearer  if  it  is  noted  that  the  court 
held  that  this  "new"  constitution  had  been  made  by  the 
Legislature.  In  drawing  it  up,  the  Legislature  had  usurped 
power  to  make  a  constitution.  Governor  Marshall's  inspira- 
tion had  served  to  delay  still  longer  the  possibility  of  re- 
vision. 

The  court  must  have  felt  a  bit  ashamed  of  this  logic, 
at  least  it  changed  its  mind  and  discovered  that  the  Law- 
yers' Amendment  really  wasn't  before  the  people  after  all; 
it  had  been  rejected,  and  new  amendments  might  be  pro- 
posed. The  General  Assembly  of  1913  passed  favorably  up- 
on twenty-two  amendments.  These,  however,  were  so  care- 
lessly drawn  that  by  1915  even  their  author  proposed  the 
dropping  of  some  of  them:  others  were  approved  by  the 
1915  Senate.  These  "Stotsenburg  amendments,"  however, 
were  killed  without  vote  in  the  House,  and  again  progress 
was  foiled. 

This  may  seem  a  long  introduction  to  an  exposition  of 
the  defects  of  the  Constitution  of  Indiana,  but  it  has  been 
written  to  prove  the  first  point,  namely,  that  the  article 
dealing  with  the  process  of  amendment  has  been  so  con- 
structed as  to  render  necessary  alterations  almost  or  quite 
impossible.  The  people's  "indefeasible  right  to  alter  or  re- 
form their  government"  has  been  destroyed  by  a  technical- 
ity or  by  the  scheming  of  politicians  to  postpone  the  day 
when  genuine  improvement  will  be  demanded.  Such  a  state 
of  affairs  is  intolerable.  Every  fair  minded  person  will 
readily  grant  that  there  are  possibilities  of  almost  unbear- 
able tyranny  in  any  conceivable  system  of  majority  rule. 
Yet  probably  not  a  thing  can  be  said  against  majority  rule 
that  does  not  apply  with  redoubled  force  against  minority 
rule;  to  let  the  few,  fortified  by  a  document  composed  by 


166  INDIANA 

men  long  dead,  rule  the  many,  is  to  allow  the  legitimate 
interests  of  the  majority  to  be  balked.  Until  the  Constitu- 
tion of  Indiana  can  be  amended  with  reasonable  ease,  many 
changes  essential  to  public  welfare  cannot  be  realized.  Not 
all  of  these  imperative  alterations  now  appear,  for  the  needs 
of  the  country  are  still  in  the  process  of  development. 
Therefore  the  first  and  severest  criticism  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  Indiana  is  that  it  is  too  difficult  to  amend. 

The  Suffrage. 

A  second  criticism  of  the  Constitution  may  be  levelled 
against  the  provisions  that  have  to  do  with  the  franchise 
and  its  exercise.  Very  few  are  the  men  who  would  deny 
that  the  granting  of  the  suffrage  to  persons  who  have  mere- 
ly declared  their  intention  of  becoming  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  provided  they  have  lived  in  this  country  a  year  and 
in  the  commonwealth  six  months,  may  be  perfectly  justi- 
fiable in  certain  individual  cases;  and  yet,  on  the  whole, 
little  can  be  said  in  favor  of  allowing  men  to  vote  before 
they  are  accustomed  to  American  institutions.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  practically  certain  that  this  alien  element 
is  one  of  the  factors  that  has  made  possible  the  enormities 
of  city  government.  So  it  seems  that  the  demand  that 
a  citizenship  requirement  for  the  suffrage  be  written  in  the 
Constitution  has  a  solid  basis. 

As  the  Constitution  is  too  liberal  in  granting  the  fran- 
chise to  aliens,  so  also  is  it  too  narrow  in  denying  the  ballot 
to  women  because  of  their  sex.  They  have  already  proved 
their  capacity  for  organization,  and  for  originating,  plan- 
ning, and  accomplishing  worth  while  things.  They  have 
performed  these  feats  without  neglecting  their  usual  home 
duties  any  more  than  such  duties  are  ordinarily  slighted  by 
human  women.  Thru  their  clubs  they  have  acquainted 
themselves  with  the  best  thot  along  social  and  political  lines. 
They  are  ready  now  to  exercise  the  franchise  with  discre- 
tion. The  ballot,  however,  would  bring  new  responsibilities, 
keener  interests,  wider  wisdom;  would  give  the  women  an 
opportunity  to  develop  further,  to  serve  further,  to  bring  to 
the  solution  of  social  problems  a  less  brutally  materialistic 
attitude  than  that  of  men,  and  to  make  themselves  more 
companionable  to  men.  No  great  reforms  are  to  be  confi- 
dently predicted  as  an  immediate  result  of  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  women.  What  is  to  be  expected  is  that  the  women 


THE    CONSTITUTION  167 

of  Indiana,  like  those  of  other  states,  will  vote  as  wisely  as 
the  men ;  that  some  of  them,  having  more  leisure  than  their 
husbands  and  a  new  incentive,  will  study  public  questions 
more  deeply,  and  that  thus  a  slightly  greater  degree  of  in- 
telligence and  a  slightly  less  sordid  philosophy  will  some- 
what affect  the  ballot.  In  short,  woman's  suffrage  has  in  it 
the  possibilities  of  a  slight  improvement  in  the  quality  of 
the  vote  and  of  a  large  extension  of  woman's  social  utility 
thru  an  enlargement  of  her  horizon. 

If  economic  interests  give  a  claim  to  the  ballot,  there 
were  in  1910,  155,731  women  ten  years  of  age  or  over  in 
Indiana  who  were  employed  for  money,  and  about  576,524 
who  were  employed  in  their  own  homes  as  managers.  Some 
of  these  are  well  paid  and  others  donate  their  services  for 
less  material  return  than  they  could  earn  on  the  open  mar- 
ket, plus  kicks  or  caresses  depending  on  the  disposition  of 
themselves  and  their  husbands.  These  housewives  are 
^business  women:  their  business  interests  them  directly  in 
the  fares  and  service  of  street  and  interurban  railways,  in 
the  prices  and  management  of  gas  and  electric  light  plants, 
in  the  regulation  of  city  markets,  in  the  inspection  of  foods, 
in  the  disposal  of  garbage  and  other  wastes,  in  the  sanita- 
tion of  the  community,  in  the  conduct  of  the  schools,  in  the 
morals  of  the  neighborhood  and  the  efficiency  of  the  police 
system,  and  in  the  taxes  and  expenditure  of  public  funds. 
All  these  concerns  are  vitally  bound  up  in  the  government. 
The  typical  business  man  wants  to  escape  regulation,  to  be 
let  gloriously  alone  or  merely  to  be  protected  from  the 
trusts;  the  typical  business  woman,  the  home  manager, 
wants  a  government  active  in  many  lines.  Rightly  people 
have  come  to  look  upon  government  as  a  matter  of  business, 
rightly  the  business  woman  can  claim  as  great  an  interest 
in  government  as  the  business  man. 

The  valid  arguments  for  woman's  suffrage  are  few  but 
compelling ;  the  opposition  resorts  to  an  appeal  to  prejudice, 
to  the  self-interest  of  saloon  keepers  and  corrupt  politicians 
who  probably  will  not  be  much  endangered  by  women's 
votes,  and  to  pointless  shallow  ridicule.  There  seems  to  be 
no  reason  for  denying  the  ballot  to  women  as  women  that 
does  not  apply  with  equal  force  to  men. 

If  the  suffrage  is  to  be  limited  let  it  be  limited  to  those 
who  can  read  and  write  English,  who  can  explain  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  who  know  the  functions  of 


168  INDIANA 

state  and  county  and  municipal  officials,  and  who  are  in  a 
general  way  acquainted  with  America's  history.  It  is  a 
shame  for  a  state  with  free  compulsory  education  not  to  re- 
quire an  intellectual  test  of  its  voters.  This  test  need  be  no 
great  burden,  it  might  well  be  the  attainment  of  a  certain 
grade  in  school,  the  grade  that  ought  normally  to  be  reached 
by  the  age  when  attendance  is  no  longer  compulsory.  A 
provision  for  the  examination  of  immigrants  and  of  persons 
who  have  improved  their  minds  without  the  aid  of  the  com- 
mon school  should  be  included.  Such  an  educational  test 
for  the  franchise  would  not  accomplish  wonders,  yet  it 
would  remove  from  use  some  of  the  handiest  tools  of  the 
machine  politicians. 

The  prospects  for  woman's  suffrage  in  Indiana  are  not 
particularly  bright.  In  the  1915  General  Assembly  the  Sen- 
ate by  a  large  majority  passed  a  bill  to  give  the  ballot  to  the 
women  in  electing  all  officers  not  mentioned  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, but  the  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  re- 
ferred the  measure  to  Judiciary  Committee  A,  whose  chair- 
man, Representative  Sare  of  Bloomington,  saw  to  it  that 
the  bill  never  came  to  a  vote.  It  is  possible  that  such  con- 
duct, which,  altho  typical  of  legislative  bodies,  is  despicable 
in  dealing  with  an  important  issue,  has  made  a  large  num- 
ber of  friends  for  the  equal  suffrage  movement,  but  a  pop- 
ular vote  at  this  time  would  probably  be  against  any  change 
in  the  direction  of  extending  the  franchise.  There  is  no 
doubt,  however,  but  that  the  extension  will  come  eventually. 
The  recent  suffrage  victories  in  Illinois,  Montana,  and  Ne- 
vada, combined  with  the  fact  that  in  the  1915  elections  over 
a  million  men  in  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Pennsylvania,  expressed  a  desire  that  the  women  might 
share  the  responsibility  of  state,  have  awakened  folks 
everywhere  to  the  vitality  of  the  issue.  The  women  of  In- 
diana are  organized  in  a  Franchise  League,  the  club  women 
are  eager  for  the  ballot,  the  teachers  are  almost  unanimously 
fervent  suffragists.  The  character  of  those  who  espouse 
the  cause  of  women,  combined  with  the  essential  justice 
of  their  purpose,  cannot  long  fail  to  secure  the  equal  fran- 
chise. 

Efficiency  of  the  Ballot. 

So  much  may  be  said  of  needed  changes  in  the  person- 
nel of  the  electorate.  Other  alterations  are  needed  to  pro- 


THE    CONSTITUTION  169 

tect  the  efficiency  of  the  ballot.  In  the  first  place,  the  Con- 
stitution should  be  so  amended  as  clearly  to  sanction  the 
registration  of  voters.  The  value  of  registration  is  two- 
fold: first,  it  protects  the  legitimate  voter  from  interfer- 
ence in  his  exercise  of  the  franchise;  and,  second,  it  pre- 
vents colonization,  or  the  taking  of  voters  from  one  city  to 
another.  Of  course,  registration  has,  upon  occasion,  proved 
a  farce,  yet,  in  most  cases  it  is  of  some  value. 

In  the  second  place,  the  Constitution  should  be  rid  of 
the  present  absurd  provisions  to  secure  rotation  in  office. 

At  present  a  man  may  hold  the  office  of  Governor  but 
four  years  in  any  any  eight ; 

A  man  may  hold  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  but 
four  years  in  any  six ; 

A  man  may  hold  the  office  of  Auditor  of  State  but  four 
years  in  any  six; 

A  man  may  hold  the  office  of  Treasurer  of  State  but 
four  years  in  any  six ; 

A  man  may  hold  the  office  of  Clerk  of  Circuit  Court  but 
eight  years  in  any  twelve; 

A  man  may  hold  the  office  of  County  Auditor  but  eight 
years  in  any  twelve. 

A  man  may  hold  the  office  of  County  Recorder  but  eight 
years  in  any  twelve ; 

A  man  may  hold  the  office  of  County  Treasurer  but  four 
years  in  any  six; 

A  man  may  hold  the  office  of  Sheriff  but  four  years  in 
any  six. 

The  argument  that  a  man  holding  an  office  will  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  its  duties  if  he  is  ineligible  to  succeed 
himself  because  he  will  be  rid  of  the  temptation  to  secure 
his  own  re-election,  would  be  of  weight  were  there  no  other 
posts  to  stimulate  his  ambition.  As  a  matter  of  fact  one 
office  is  frequently  used  as  a  stepping-stone  to  another.  It 
may,  moreover,  seem  good  to  limit  a  man's  tenure  in  order 
that  irregularities  can  be  disclosed.  However,  disclosures 
are  rare  if  the  successor  is  of  the  same  party,  and  they  are 
discounted  if  the  successor  is  of  the  opposite  party  from  the 
former  incumbent.  The  good  accomplished  by  these  con- 
stitutional provisions  for  rotation  is  negligible.  Their  cost 
is  great  in  that  a  good  official,  one  who  thoroly  knows  his 
business,  must  quickly  be  replaced  by  another — generally  a 


170  INDIANA 

man  untrained  to  the  task.     The  rule,  therefore,  encourages 
inefficiency. 

In  the  third  place,  altho  it  is  possibly  more  democratic 
that  all  officers  be  elected  than  that  some  be  appointed,  the 
voter  should  be  protected  from  an  overburdened  ballot. 
Certain  it  is  that  many  men  are  now  elected  because  their 
names  are  placed  on  a  particular  ticket  rather  than  because 
their  merits  are  recognized.  In  presidential  years  Indiana 
citizens  will  usually  vote  at  one  election  for  Presidential 
Electors,  Congressmen,  Senators,  Governor,  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor, Secretary  of  State,  Auditor  of  State,  Treasurer  of 
State,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Clerk  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  State 
Representative,  State  Senator,  and  many  other  less  import- 
ant officials.  As  a  result  the  voter  is  so  bewildered  by  a 
list  of  names  that  he  cannot  possibly  choose  intelligently  in 
every  case.  Moreover,  many  state  officials  are  independent 
of  the  Governor.  Finally,  state  and  national  and  local  issues 
are  mixed.  The  remedy  is  in  the  short  ballot.  If  the 
voters  could  select  the  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor,  and 
legislators,  and  if  the  Governor  could  appoint  his  own  cab- 
inet, executive  responsibility  could  be  made  real,  because 
the  Governor  would  be  the  actual  head  of  the  whole  admin- 
istration. There  is  nothing  undemocratic  in  thus  increas- 
ing the  efficiency  of  state  government  by  creating  unity  in 
administration. 

Legislative  Restriction. 

A  third  class  of  defects  in  Indiana's  constitution  is  the 
group  connected  with  legislation.  Two  sections  are  so  obso- 
lete that  there  is  no  valid  reason  for  their  retention.  The 
requirement  that  revenue  bills  shall  originate  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  is  probably  harmless,  but  it  has  no  justi- 
fication now  when  every  bill  must  pass  both  houses  and 
when  such  measures  are  radically  amended  in  the  Senate. 
It  is  a  copy  in  form  of  a  principle  very  important  in  the 
English  Constitution  that  the  purse  ought  to  be  controlled 
by  the  branch  of  the  legislature  elected  by  the  people.  The 
reason  is  non-existent  when  the  people  choose  the  entire 
legislature.  The  second  of  these  obsolete  provisions  re- 
quires that  every  bill  be  read  three  times  in  each  house  and 
that  the  third  reading  be  by  sections.  Anyone  who  has  wit- 
nessed the  farce  of  these  readings  will  agree  that  a  much 


THE    CONSTITUTION  171 

wiser  provision  would  call  for  the  distribution  among  the 
senators  and  representatives  of  printed  copies  of  each  bill 
and  of  all  proposed  amendments. 

But  these  criticisms  are  unimportant  compared  with 
others.  Either  the  Constitution  should  provide  for  the 
division  of  the  State  into  approximately  equal  districts,  each 
to  elect  a  senator,  and  into  other  districts,  each  to  elect  a 
representative,  in  which  case  the  smaller  counties  would  not 
lose  their  votes:  or,  what  would  be  still  better,  it  might 
institute  a  system  similar  to  that  of  Illinois.  The  State 
might  be  divided  into  fewer  districts,  each  to  elect  three 
senators,  and  no  political  party  would  be  allowed  to  nomin- 
ate more  than  two  candidates  in  each  district;  in  this  way 
both  majority  and  minority  in  every  section  of  the  common- 
wealth would  of  necessity  be  represented.  The  same  re- 
sults could  be  accomplished  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Or,  Illinois  might  be  imitated  more  closely.  In  that  case, 
three  senators  would  be  chosen  from  each  district,  and  each 
voter  would  be  given  three  votes  to  be  cast  as  he  chose,  all 
for  one  man  or  distributed  among  the  candidates  in  any 
manner.  By  this  means  the  minority,  if  united,  could  be 
assured  a  representative  in  each  house  from,  each  district. 

Another  absurd  provision  in  the  Constitution,  the  limi- 
tation of  the  regular  session  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
sixty-one  days,  grows  out  of  the  fear  that  legislators  will 
stay  on  indefinitely  expending  the  resources  of  the  State. 
The  result  is  excessive  haste  at  the  end  of  each  session.  The 
logical  course  would  be  to  pay  the  members  annual  salaries 
and  allow  them  to  meet  as  long  as  they  desire.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  well  to  facilitate  some  deliberation  by  placing  a 
minimum  limit  of  say  fifty  days  to  the  regular  session ;  then 
the  members  could  not  shirk  the  form  of  doing  service 
equivalent  to  their  remuneration.  The  French  require  this 
minimum  session  of  their  Diet.  Moreover,  the  veto  power 
of  the  Governor  should  be  modified  so  that  he  could  refuse 
his  consent  to  one  or  more  sections  of  a  bill  without  disap- 
proving the  whole.  This  would  enable  him  to  prevent  cer- 
tain appropriations  without  stopping  the  entire  machinery 
of  the  State ;  it  would  also  allow  a  strong  Governor  to  bring 
squarely  to  an  issue  in  the  General  Assembly  any  one  pro- 
vision of  a  measure  which  may  have  "ridden  thru"  because 
a  majority  opposed  to  that  provision  could  not  defeat  it 
without  defeating  the  bill  good  in  the  main.  No  tyranny 


172  INDIANA 

could  result  from  such  power,  as  a  majority  of  each  house 
can  over-rule  the  Governor's  veto. 

One  of  the  greatest  weaknesses  among  the  provisions 
of  the  Indiana  Constitution  is  its  failure  to  give  the  people 
any  way  of  forcing  their  will  upon  a  machine-controlled  Leg- 
islature. The  remedy  for  this  failure  is  the  Initiative  and 
Referendum,  There  are  many  variations  of  both  the  Ini- 
tiative and  Referendum.  The  essential  feature  of  the  Ref- 
erendum is  that  after  the  Legislature  has  passed  a  law,  a 
given  per  cent  of  the  voters  may  within  a  limited  time  pe- 
tition that  the  measure  be  referred  to  the  electors.  This 
petition  suspends  the  operation  of  the  bill  until  the  popular 
vote  has  been  taken.  The  Initiative  enables  a  given  per 
cent  of  the  voters  to  require  by  petition  the  submission  of  a 
certain  bill  to  the  people,  in  case  the  bill  has  been  before 
the  Legislature  and  failed  to  pass,  or  even  if  it  has  never 
been  considered  by  that  body.  In  either  the  Initiative  or 
the  Referendum,  an  effective  method  involves  the  printing 
of  the  proposed  bills  in  a  pamphlet  which  contains  brief  but 
forceful  arguments  on  both  sides  of  each  question ;  and  final 
decision  as  to  the  enactment  of  the  bill  into  a  law  must  be 
by  the  popular  vote.  In  many  states  so-called  direct  legis- 
lation provisions  in  the  constitutions  have  been  valueless  be- 
cause of  the  absurd  "safeguards"  inserted  by  the  old  line 
politicians.  To  be  effective  the  law  should  require  the  sig- 
natures of  not  more  than  five  per  cent  of  the  voters  to  cause 
a  bill  that  has  been  passed  by  the  Legislature  to  be  referred 
to  the  people,  and  not  more  than  ten  per  cent  to  compel  a 
popular  vote  on  a  bill  that  the  General  Assembly  has  not 
passed,  whether  that  body  had  ever  considered  the  subject 
or  not.  Moreover,  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  on  the  meas- 
ure should  be  sufficient  to  secure  its  enactment  or  rejection. 

The  argument  for  direct  legislation  is  simple  and  co- 
gent. Thru  the  caucus  system  the  majority  of  the  majority 
party  in  each  house  of  the  General  Assembly  controls  the 
vote  of  that  house.  Again,  the  House  may  refer  bills  to 
committees  which  no  power  in  the  Legislature  can  compel 
to  report.  Here,  too,  the  minority  may  rule  by  blocking. 
So  a  great  deal  of  the  legislation  is  passed  or  defeated  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  a  minority ;  the  defeat  of  some  candi- 
date for  re-election  cannot  check  this  evil — the  only  eradi- 
cator  is  direct  government.  If  the  people  have  a  means  of 
speaking  directly  whenever  they  see  fit,  the  caucus  cannot 


THE    CONSTITUTION  173 

forever  block  their  will.  A  constitutional  right  of  direct 
legislation  should  do  away  with  the  need  for  the  actual  use 
of  the  Initiative  and  Referendum.  If  what  the  General  As- 
sembly does  the  people  may  promptly  undo,  if  what  it  omits 
the  people  may  within  a  year  perform,  the  value  of  a  legisla- 
ture to  the  interests  which  now  control  it  will  be  much  di- 
minished; it  will  be  nearly  useless  to  buy  up  a  General  As- 
sembly whose  action  is  not  final.  Moreover,  a  legislature  is 
likely  to  be  more  responsive  to  the  will  of  the  electors  if 
they  can  promptly  enforce  that  will.  Thus  direct  legisla- 
tion, most  successful  where  it  is  least  used,  is  a  necessary 
and  potentially  effective  safeguard  for  the  "sacredness  of 
the  franchise." 

Of  course  there  are  objections  to  direct  legislation.  It 
is  expensive  to  print  bills  for  public  distribution  and  to  pro- 
vide ballots.  The  number  of  measures  offered  the  voters  of 
Oregon  at  an  election  is  overwhelming,  and  the  people  have 
failed  to  pass  some  laws  that  would  have  been  good,  while 
they  have  enacted  others  that  were  conflicting  or  poorly 
drawn.  All  these  objections  are  valid  but  weak,  for  the 
cost  is  slight  compared  with  the  possibilities  of  gain  thru 
better  laws,  and  the  public  can  as  well  consider  fifty  meas- 
ures in  a  couple  of  months  preceding  an  election  as  the  legis- 
lature can  dispose  of  five  hundred  in  a  limited  period  of  high 
pressure.  If  the  people  in  the  commonwealths  having  direct 
legislation  have  failed  to  be  as  righteous  as  reformers  have 
desired  them  to  be,  they  have  certainly  proven  themselves 
more  discriminating  than  many  legislatures;  if  the  people 
pass  ill-drawn  measures  so  do  legislatures  many,  many 
times. 

Especially  in  Indiana,  so  long  and  so  notoriously  a  vic- 
tim of  unrepresentative  General  Assemblies,  is  direct  legis- 
lation a  pressing  need. 

Justice. 

The  fourth  point  wherein  Indiana's  constitution  fails 
is  its  group  of  provisions  concerning  justice.  In  the  first 
place,  the  Supreme  Court,  constitutionally  limited  to  five 
members,  is  overworked;  it  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  pro- 
vide more  justices,  a  thing  which  is  possible  only  thru 
amendment.  In  the  second  place,  the  Constitution  provides 
that  every  voter  "of  good  moral  character"  shall  be  entitled 
to  practice  law  in  all  courts  of  justice."  The  absurdity 


174  INDIANA 

of  this  privilege  at  the  present  day  is  so  apparent  that  the 
lawyers  have  been  trying  for  years  to  set  up  some  stand- 
ards for  admission  to  the  bar.  The  story  of  the  failure  of 
the  necessary  constitutional  amendment  has  already  been 
told.  The  third  constitutional  principle  that  is  an  impedi- 
ment to  the  realization  of  justice  is  that  part  of  the  bill  of 
rights  which  orders  that  "no  person  shall  be  put  in  jeopardy 
twice  for  the  same  offense."  The  absurdity  of  this  clause 
is  illustrated  by  a  recent  happening  in  a  New  York  City 
court.  Two  men  accused  of  committing  the  same  crime 
were  tried  separately.  The  first  was  acquitted.  He  then 
was  called  as  a  witness  at  the  trial  of  the  second,  and  he 
testified  that  he  had  committed  the  crime  himself,  unaided. 
Therefore  the  second  man  had  to  be  acquitted  and  there  was 
no  way  of  punishing  the  first  because  he  could  not  twice  be 
put  in  jeopardy  for  the  same  offense.  What  the  constitu- 
tion should  recognize  is  a  verdict  of  "not  proven."  Thus, 
if  new  evidence  came  to  light,  it  would  be  possible  to  try  a 
suspected  criminal  a  second  time.  Finally,  it  is  the  com- 
mand of  the  Constitution  that  "In  all  criminal  cases  what- 
ever, the  jury  shall  have  the  right  to  determine  the  law  and 
the  facts."  It  is  hard  to  imagine  the  possibility  of  bring- 
ing together  a  group  of  twelve  laymen  capable  of  agreeing 
upon  the  law  in  cases  that  are  at  all  complicated.  If  only 
law  were  taught  in  the  schools  perhaps  that  would  make  the 
constitutional  provision  less  foolish.  It  might  be  added 
that  a  three-fourths  vote  of  a  jury  should  be  sufficient  to 
convict.  It  is  so  nearly  impossible  to  convict  in  criminal 
cases  that,  even  at  the  risk  of  occasional  injustice  to  an  in- 
dividual, it  is  desirable  to  make  a  verdict  of  guilty  more 
easily  obtainable. 

Financial  Provisions. 

In  a  fifth  group  of  defects  in  the  Constitution  of  Indi- 
ana are  two  of  its  financial  provisions.  One  allows  no  debt 
to  be  contracted  by  the  commonwealth,  except  to  supply  a 
casual  deficit ;  to  pay  interest  on  the  public  debt ;  or  to  repel 
invasion,  suppress  insurrection,  or  to  provide  for  the  public 
defense  if  hositilities  are  threatened.  Surely  it  is  desirable 
to  keep  a  state  out  of  debt,  but  just  as  certainly  there  are 
times  when  a  debt  is  a  very  useful  expedient  for  distribut- 
ing over  a  number  of  years,  the  fewer  the  better,  a  large 
payment.  The  other  section  requires  that  "The  General 


THE    CONSTITUTION  175 

Assembly  shall  provide  by  law  for  a  uniform  and  equal  rate 
of  assessment  and  taxation."  The  evils  resulting  from  this 
clause  have  been  set  forth  in  the  chapter  on  Finances  and 
need  not  be  reiterated  here. 

Narrow  Interpretation. 

The  sixth  group  of  constitutional  defects  arises  out  of 
a  narrow  interpretation  of  its  terms.  Because  by  that  docu- 
ment local  or  special  laws  are  prohibited  in  a  large  number 
of  expressly  enumerated  cases  and  "in  all  other  cases  where 
a  general  law  can  be  made  applicable,"  it  is  maintained  that 
home  rule  for  cities  is  unconstitutional.  A  fair  and  prac- 
tical interpretation  would  hold  that  a  general  act  could  en- 
able cities  to  frame  their  own  charters,  subject  to  approval 
or  rejection  by  the  Legislature.  Such  a  law  would  be  prop- 
erly a  general  act.  The  spirit  of  the  Constitution  would 
still  be  fulfilled  if  certain  uniform  fundamentals  were  set 
forth  to  be  included  in  every  charter.  The  need  of  so-called 
home  rule  for  cities  lies  in  the  fact  that  each  municipality 
has  its  own  peculiar  governmental  problems  which  are  ig- 
nored by  the  present  general  laws.  Each  city  should  be  al- 
lowed to  advance  to  the  commission  or  to  the  city  manager 
plan  of  government  as  soon  as  its  inhabitants  feel  the  desire 
for  a  change  to  something  better  than  the  old  system.  An- 
other narrow  interpretation  has,  according  to  the  chairman 
of  Judiciary  Committee  A  of  the  1915  Legislature,  T.  J.  Sare, 
interfered  with  the  fullest  development  of  the  workmen's 
compensation  law.  The  Constitution  should  be  changed  to 
allow  both  home  rule  for  cities  and  a  free  hand  to  the  Legis- 
lature regarding  workmen's  compensation. 

Miscellaneous. 

Finally,  there  are  some  provisions  in  the  Constitution 
harmless  but  of  no  use.  For  example,  the  charter  of  a 
bank  might  better  be  indeterminate  than  limited  to  twenty 
years,  and  the  census  of  voters  might  much  better  be  taken 
every  ten  years  midway  between  the  United  States  Censuses 
than  every  six  years,  which  will  bring  the  next  count  in 
1920,  the  same  year  as  the  Federal  enumeration. 


176  INDIANA 

Summary. 

There  are  so  many  holes  in  the  structure  that  nothing 
short  of  a  thoro  overhauling  or  an  entirely  new  Consti- 
tution will  meet  the  needs  of  Indiana.  Why  is  it,  then,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  all  the  political  parties,  the 
State  Federation  of  Labor,  the  Women's  Clubs,  and  many 
other  organizations  have  expressed  themselves  as  desirous 
of  a  constitutional  convention,  none  has  been  called  ?  In  the 
first  place,  the  politicians  are  a  bit  timid  about  appropriat- 
ing the  money  necessary  to  provide  for  a  convention.  Just 
why  they  hesitate  it  is  hard  to  say,  unless  the  cost,  approxi- 
mately $1,000,000  would  be  known  definitely  and  criticised 
widely.  It  is  safe  to  predict  that  reforms  in  the  financial 
system  would  easily  make  up  the  burden  of  the  convention 
in  a  year  or  two.  So  the  1913  General  Assembly  evaded  the 
issue  by  providing  for  a  referendum  vote  on  the  question  of 
a  convention,  and  then  proceeded  to  obscure  the  issue  by 
initiating  the  so-called  Stotsenburg  Amendments.  In  the 
second  place,  the  strong  liquor  interests  are  inexpressibly 
hostile  to  the  convention  which  they  fear  will  bring  direct 
legislation,  state  prohibition,  and  woman  suffrage,  eventual- 
ly if  not  immediately.  In  the  third  place,  public  utilities 
strongly  desire  a  retention  of  the  present  form  of  city  gov- 
ernment. They  fear  that  under  a  new  Constitution  the 
municipalities  might  be  tempted  to  take  over  some  of  their 
own  utilities  and  thus  remove  the  sources  of  great  profit 
from  private  control.  Fourth,  machine  politicians  must  op- 
pose a  new  Constitution,  for  changes  that  are  probable 
would  make  their  positions  less  secure  and  would  injure 
their  patrons  and  backers,  the  saloons  and  public  utilities. 
Fifth,  there  is  a  group  of  people,  honestly  conservative,  who 
believe  that  anything  that  is,  is  superior  to  what  might  be. 
The  present  Constitution  has  been  interpreted  by  the  courts 
— a  new  one  would  make  necessary  a  repetition  of  all  this 
labor,  would  make  many  established  legal  points  again  un- 
certain. There  is  some  truth  in  this  contention,  and  it  is 
probable  that  years  would  be  necessary  before  the  courts 
could  settle  definitely  every  point,  but  no  constitution  that 
the  conservative  people  of  Indiana  would  adopt  would  make 
any  startling  changes  in  the  law.  Sixth,  the  great  mass  of 
people  simply  have  lacked  the  breadth  of  information  neces- 
sary to  enable  them  to  appreciate  the  defects  of  the  present 


THE    CONSTITUTION  177 

frame  of  government,  and  therefore  they  did  not  take 
trouble  to  vote  at  the  1914  election  on  the  question  of  calling 
a  convention,  or  else  they  voted  against  the  convention  be- 
cause they  were  not  sure  it  was  imperative.  Seventh,  the 
issue  of  a  new  convention  at  the  last  election  was  confused 
by  the  fact  that  the  widely  heralded  Stotsenburg  Amend- 
ments were  pending  in  the  Legislature,  and  it  was  predicted 
that  they  would  pass  and  obviate  the  necessity  for  a  con- 
vention. 

The  question  simmers  down  to  this:  it  is  highly  im- 
portant to  some  monied  and  political  interests  to  retain  the 
present  constitution.  Altho  it  would  be  to  the  financial 
betterment  of  the  State  to  have  a  more  efficient  government 
under  a  modern  constitution,  no  individuals  see  enough  per- 
sonal gain  to  care  to  exert  themselves  for  the  convention. 
Incidentally  a  constitutional  convention  would  be  of  immense 
educational  value  to  the  state,  for  it  would  bring  before  the 
public  for  practical  discussion  the  problems  of  government 
in  simplified  form  because  they  would  be  somewhat  separ- 
ated from  party  questions.  There  are  now  at  work  forces 
that  will  doubtless  eventually  win  for  Indiana  the  constitu- 
tion she  must  have  if  she  is  to  occupy  a  leading  position  in 
the  nation. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Charities  and  Correction 

I.    Poor  Relief. 

The  provision  for  the  physical  needs  of  those  adults 
who  are  unable  to  provide  for  themselves  falls  into  two 
somewhat  distinct  types :  indoor  relief,  or  that  given  in  in- 
stitutions provided  for  the  purpose,  and  outdoor  relief,  or 
assistance  rendered  in  the  home  of  the  individual  or  family. 
In  poor  relief,  as  in  all  phases  of  charitable  work,  it  is  im- 
portant to  distinguish  between  the  so-called  public  and  pri- 
vate agencies.  By  a  public  agency  is  meant  any  agency 
supported  by  taxation,  and  generally  managed  by  public  of- 
ficials. Private  or  voluntary  agencies  are  any  supported  by 
private  contribution  and  voluntary  benevolences,  whether 
individuals,  associations,  or  churches.  Whenever  used  in 
this  chapter  the  terms  outdoor,  indoor,  public,  private  or 
voluntary  will  conform  with  these  meanings. 

As  early  as  1790  Indiana  recognized  public  responsibili- 
ty for  the  poor  in  the  act  creating  the  territory's  divis- 
ions. By  1831,  there  were  five  distinct  ways  by  which  the 
public  authorities  cared  for  the  poor.  Rawles  describes 
describes  these  as  follows : 
ments  in  plant  or  administration,  and  passes  on  all  plans  for 

"The  poor  asylum  system,  which  meant  the  gathering 
of  the  poor  in  asylums  or  farms  under  the  superintendence 
of  county  officials;  the  contract  system,  which  signified  a 
similar  congregation  under  the  control  of  a  private  person 
paid  by  the  county;  the  farming  out  system,  under  which 
the  poor,  individually,  were  placed  in  the  care  of  private  per- 
sons who  received  a  compensation;  the  apprentice  system 
for  minors ;  and  the  outdoor  relief,  under  which  aid  was  fur- 
nished by  the  township  trustee  or  county  commissioners  to 
persons  not  cared  for  in  any  of  the  ways  mentioned  above." 
(D* 

*The  numbers  in  the  parenthesis  refer  to    references  under  topic 
XI  in  the  Selected  References  in  the  Appendix. 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  179 

Altho  the  progress  for  a  half  century  after  1831  was 
very  slow,  Indiana  has  long  since  abolished  all  but  the  first 
and  last  of  these  methods.  The  development  of  specialized 
institutions  for  particular  groups  has  made  the  poor  asylum 
less  a  general  dumping  ground  for  all  the  wrecks  and  fail- 
ures and  unfortunates  than  it  once  was.  Thus  the  insane, 
the  feeble  minded,  the  epileptic  have  been  removed  to  a  con- 
siderable degree,  altho  a  few  insane,  many  feeble  minded, 
and  some  epileptics  still  remain.  The  law  has  forbidden  the 
keeping  of  a  child  over  three  years  for  more  than  sixty  days 
in  a  poor  asylum.  The  tendency,  therefore,  is  for  this  in- 
stitution to  become  a  home  for  the  infirm  and  aged. 

Every  county  in  the  State  maintains  a  poor  asylum. 
The  superintendent  is  elected  by  the  Board  of  County  Com- 
missioners for  a  term  of  four  years,  and  paid  an  annual  sal- 
ary. The  Board  of  State  Charities  inspects  each  asylum, 
reports  on  its  condition,  recommends  any  necessary  improve- 
ments in  plant  or  administration,  and  pasess  on  all  plans  for 
new  buildings.  The  following  from  the  1914  Report  of  the 
Board  of  State  Charities  is  significant: 
"The  asylum  buildings  are  of  all  kinds  of  architecture 
and  material.  Some  are  good  modern  structures;  others 
are  old,  ill-arranged  buildings  and  some  are  unfit  for  habi- 
tation. Several  of  those  now  in  use  were  eretced  before 
the  requirement  was  made  by  law  for  the  plans  and  specifi- 
cations of  all  asylum  buildings  to  be  submitted  to  the  Board 
of  State  Charities  for  its  criticism  before  their  adoption  by 
the  county  commissioners. 

"It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  some  of  the  superintend- 
ents and  matrons  make  special  effort  to  provide  suitable  em- 
ployment for  the  inmates. 

"There  is  a  lack  of  hospital  facilities  for  the  care  of  the 
sick  and  invalids  in  most  of  the  poor  asylums.  The  asylums 
in  Lake  and  St.  Joseph  Counties  have  well  equipped  hospital 
departments  and  a  few  other  asylums  have  quarters  where 
the  sick  may  be  comfortably  cared  for.  However,  the 
greater  number  make  no  provision  for  this  class.  The  sick 
and  helpless  inmates  in  many  asylums  are  compelled  to  oc- 
cupy rooms  with  disagreeable  persons,  their  only  attendant 
being  an  insane  or  feeble-minded  inmate.  In  an  asylum 
visited  recently  two  helpless  men  occupied  a  small  room 
with  an  insane  man  who  cares  for  them.  The  room  was 
cold,  dirty  and  signs  of  neglect  were  in  evidence.  In  an- 


180  INDIANA 

other  asylum  a  woman  was  found  moaning  with  pain  caused 
by  cancer.  Her  attendant  was  a  blind  daughter. 
"*  *  *  *Many  of  the  physicians  manifest  interest  in  the  care 
of  the  inmates  and  do  all  in  their  power  to  relieve  the  suffer- 
ing; others  make  the  visits  reluctantly  and  give  as  little  ser- 
vice as  possible. 

"Most  of  the  asylums  attempt  to  keep  the  sexes  separ- 
ated, but  in  several  the  segregation  is  incomplete.  In  some 
asylums  the  lack  of  proper  separation  is  due  to  the  poor  ar- 
rangement of  the  buildings ;  in  others  it  seems  that  the  man- 
agement does  not  realize  the  importance  of  this  matter. 
Recently  a  woman  gave  birth  to  an  illegitimate  child  in  one 
of  the  asylums  and  it  is  reported  that  an  inmate  of  the  same 
institution  is  the  father  of  the  child.  In  another  asylum  it 
was  found  that  a  feeble-minded  woman  was  allowed  to  stay 
in  the  basement  where  the  male  inmates  spend  much  of 
their  time. 

"In  each  asylum  is  a  proportionate  number  of  mental 
defectives.  For  many  of  these  no  other  provision  need  or 
could  well  be  made,  but  from  time  to  time  young  feeble- 
minded women  are  found  who  need  the  protection  and  train- 
ing which  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  have  in  the  poor  asy- 
lum. 

"A  few  of  the  asylums  have  special  buildings  and  at- 
tendants for  the  insane,  but  the  majority  are  not  prepared 
to  care  for  this  class  of  unfortunates.  *  *  *  Some  of  the 
asylums  have  good  separate  buildings  for  the  insane ;  many 
have  poor,  unsanitary  quarters  and  several  make  no  special 
provision.  While  a  few  of  this  class  have  special  attend- 
ants the  majority  are  cared  for  by  other  inmates.  In  one 
asylum  three  insane  women  who  were  locked  up  were  being 
cared  for  by  a  male  inmate  who  carried  a  key  to  their  cells. 
In  another  asylum  the  inspector  found  a  young  epileptic 
woman  and  an  old  insane  woman  both  locked  in  a  small  room 
on  the  second  floor,  where  they  were  kept  all  the  time.  The 
sanitary  conditions  were  bad.  The  young  woman  had  fre- 
quent attacks  of  epilepsy  and  the  only  care  she  received 
was  given  by  the  insane  woman,  who  at  times  was  violent. 
Insane  persons  are  often  found  locked  up  in  the  asylums 
when  it  would  be  unnecessary  if  they  could  have  proper 
care.  In  some  asylums  those  in  charge  do  the  best  they 
can;  others  seem  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do.  None  of 
the  asylums  has  the  facilities  for  giving  the  insane  care 
and  treatment  by  those  having  training  and  skill  for  such 
work. 
It  is  pleasing  to  note  that  provision  is  made  in  some 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  181 

asylums  for  occasional  entertainments  and  amusements  of 
various  kinds.  In  several  counties  these  occasions  have 
been  made  possible  by  the  board  of  county  charities.  It  is 
believed  that  the  poor  conditions  existing  in  many  of  the 
poor  asylums  are  due  to  a  lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of 
the  public. 

"Some  of  the  superintendents  made  special  effort  to  have 
the  citizens  of  their  county  visit  their  institutions  and  ac- 
quaint themselves  with  the  conditions  and  needs.  This 
plan  is  to  be  commended.  Under  the  law  the  county  com- 
missioners must  visit  the  asylum  at  least  every  three 
months.  It  is  noted  that  in  some  counties  the  commission- 
ers do  not  do  their  duty  in  this  respect. 
"While  many  unsatisfactory  and  some  deplorable  con- 
ditions still  exist  in  poor  asylums,  on  the  whole  the  tendency 
is  toward  a  higher  standard  of  management. 
"There  were  2,197  men  and  boys  and  1,031  women  and 
girls  in  the  ninety-two  county  poor  asylums  and  the  Marion 
County  Asylum  for  the  Insane  on  August  31,  1914,  a  total 
of  3,228.  The  following  tabulated  statement  classifies  this 
total  by  sex  and  age:" 

AGE                     Males  Females 

Under  three  years 7  6 

3  and  under  17 14  12 

17  and  under  30 91  63 

30  and  under  45 248  165 

45  and  under  60 578  259 

60  and  under  75 865  301 

75  and  over. .                         .   394  225 


Total 2,197  1,031  3,228 

One  great  cause  of  many  of  the  undesirable  conditions 
in  poor  asylums  is  the  fact  that  the  institution  does  not 
come  before  the  eyes  of  the  community.  The  public  gen- 
erally rests  content  in  the  belief  that  a  place  has  been  pro- 
vided for  the  poor,  and  they  are  therefore  beyond  the  need 
for  attention.  An  attempt  to  remedy  this  situation  has 
been  made  in  Indiana.  A  state  law  provides  for  the  ap- 
pointment by  the  Circuit  Judge  of  a  board  of  public  spirited 
citizens  in  each  county  who  shall  serve  without  salary  and 
constitute  a  County  Board  of  Charities.  Their  function  is 
to  visit  the  poor  asylum,  jail,  orphans'  home,  and  any  other 
county  institution  and  keep  its  condition  and  needs  before 
the  community.  They  thus  mediate  between  the  institu- 


182  INDIANA 

tion  and  the  public  sentiment  of  the  county.  At  the  close 
of  the  year  1914  there  were  sixty-nine  counties  having  such 
boards. 

Another  factor  in  the  situation  is  the  low  salaries  paid 
poor  asylum  superintendents.  Since  the  administration  de- 
pends so  much  on  the  efficiency  of  the  superintendent,  ex- 
tremely low  salaries  mean  incompetent  management.  In 
the  last  few  years  there  is  evident  a  decided  tendency  to- 
ward an  increase  of  the  amount  paid.  This  with  the  four- 
year  tenure  will  make  for  higher  efficiency. 

The  public  outdoor  relief  of  Indiana  marks  a  considera- 
ble advance  over  that  of  most  other  states.  Thru  a  ser- 
ies of  laws  the  principle  of  state  supervision  of  outdoor  re- 
lief has  been  established.  This  has  resulted  in  reducing 
over  half  the  amount  spent  for  this  purpose.  A  more  im- 
portant item  in  the  improvement  is  the  reduction  of  the 
number  of  individuals  and  families  unwisely  helped  and 
thus  pauperized.  In  1897  one  in  every  thirty-one  of  the 
population  were  recipients,  in  1907,  one  in  seventy-one. 
Moreover,  the  system  of  reports  required  has  lifted  the 
matter  out  of  the  field  of  petty  graft  and  made  the  local 
community  financially  responsible  for  the  expenditure  for 
its  own  poor. 

The  main  provisions  of  the  law  are  as  follows:  the 
township  trustee  is  overseer  of  the  poor,  and  the  sole  dis- 
penser of  outdoor  relief.  Each  year  a  tax  is  levied  on  town- 
ship property  to  cover  the  amount  spent  the  preceding  year. 
The  trustee  must  investigate  the  circumstances  of  every  ap- 
plicant for  relief.  Reports  of  these  facts  and  amounts  ex- 
pended are  made  in  triplicate,  one  copy  being  retained  by 
the  trustee,  one  copy  going  to  the  county  auditor,  one  to 
the  Board  of  State  Charities.  Whenever  the  amount  given 
to  any  individual  or  family,  other  than  medical  relief,  burial, 
or  assistance  to  a  child  in  attending  school,  reaches  fifteen 
dollars  for  any  one  quarter  no  more  may  be  given,  except 
by  permission  of  the  County  Commissioners.  Cases  of  per- 
manent need  are  to  be  sent  to  the  poor  asylum,  except  under 
special  circumstances  where  permission  can  be  secured  from 
the  commisisoners  for  further  outdoor  relief.  The  trustee 
is  directed  to  cooperate  with  private  agencies  to  prevent 
duplication  and  to  further  efficiency. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  this  poor  relief  law,  marking  as 
it  does  the  most  advanced  position  in  the  nation  on  public 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  183 

outdoor  relief  has  been  of  inestimable  benefit  to  both  the 
tax  payers  and  the  poor  themselves.  Its  benefits,  however, 
have  been  chiefly  in  the  direction  of  eliminating  dishonesty, 
reducing  unnecessary  expenditures,  and  reducing  the  pro- 
cess of  pauperization  by  unwise  public  support.  Important 
as  these  improvements  are,  they  do  not  constitute  the  last 
word  in  outdoor  relief.  There  is  manifest  a  growing  de- 
mand for  higher  efficiency  in  the  public  care  for  the  poor. 
One  group  of  needy  individuals  in  particular  has  come  to 
the  front  in  Indiana  in  the  last  few  years  as  in  other  states, 
namely,  mothers  with  children  dependent  solely  on  them  for 
support.  It  is  maintained  that  such  families  do  not  receive 
adequate  assistance  from  the  community  and  further  that 
such  families  are  often  broken  up  because  the  mother  is  un- 
able to  support  the  children. 

In  the  last  two  sessions  of  the  Legislature  bills  have 
been  introduced  for  the  establishing  of  so-called  mothers' 
pensions  by  the  State,  which  is  merely  one  form  of  public 
outdoor  relief,  and  not  a  pension  system  at  all.  There  has 
gathered  around  these  bills  a  considerable  degree  of  popular 
support,  tho  not  sufficient  to  carry  them  thru  the  Legisla- 
ture. The  public  interest  in  the  bills,  however,  cannot  be 
disregarded,  and  an  explanation  for  it  must  be  sought. 
Most  of  the  people  engaged  in  social  work  and  many  public 
officials  have  been  opposed  to  the  bills.  Their  opposition 
has  been  explained  by  the  friends  of  the  bills  on  the  grounds 
of  a  narrow  selfish  interest  in  maintaining  a  status  quo  in 
public  and  private  relief  work.  The  real  explanation  of  the 
opposition,  however,  is  to  be  found  in  the  belief  on  the  part 
of  the  opposition  that  our  present  system  of  public  outdoor 
relief  is  adequate,  or  at  least  that  the  proposed  measure 
would  not  improve  it. 

It  is  highly  important  that  the  opponents  of  mothers' 
pension  legislation  should  recognize  a  very  great  need  for 
improvement  in  the  administration  of  public  outdoor  relief. 
It  is  in  this  direction  that  the  explanation  of  the  popular  sup- 
port of  the  proposed  legislation  is  to  be  found.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  important  that  the  real  position  of  the  op- 
ponents of  the  new  plan  be  understood.  They  maintain 
correctly  that  mothers  with  children  to  support  constitute 
but  one  group,  and  a  small  one,  of  the  entire  number  that 
are  in  need  of  public  outdoor  relief.  To  create  a  special 
machinery  to  deal  with  one  small  part  of  a  large  problem  is 


184  INDIANA 

manifestly  contrary  to  wise  public  policy,  with  reference  to 
both  economy  and  efficiency.  Again,  it  is  correctly  pointed 
out  that  much  of  the  very  great  improvement  that  has  been 
attained  in  the  administration  of  public  poor  relief  in  In- 
diana has  come  thru  reducing  the  number  of  agencies  that 
dispense  relief  to  one,  namely,  the  township  trustee.  A  mul- 
tiplicity of  agencies  means  either  inevitable  duplication,  or 
expensive  administrative  machinery  for  preventing  it.  All 
mothers'  pension  measures,  so  far  proposed,  have  called  for 
a  new  agency  for  dispensing  relief. 

Still  further,  it  is  maintained  that  the  public  officials 
who  would  dispense  mothers'  pensions  could  be  no  more  effi- 
cient in  learning  the  actual  needs  of  the  applicants  for  relief 
than  are  the  trustees.  We  already  have  the  administrative 
machinery  necessary  for  doing  all  the  new  plan  calls  for  and 
doing  it  as  well. 

A  solution  of  the  problem  presented  by  needy  mothers 
without  male  support,  can  manifestly  be  met  only  by  relat- 
ing it  to  the  general  problem  of  public  outdoor  relief.  And 
evidence  is  not  lacking  that  there  are  many  other  phases  of 
this  general  problem  that  call  for  attention  quite  as  urgent- 
ly as  that  of  the  mothers,  if  not  more  so. 

The  central  difficulty  in  the  whole  matter  lies  in  the 
inefficiency  of  the  township  trustee.  The  administration  of 
relief  is  now  recognized  to  be  a  task  calling  for  a  high  de- 
gree of  personal  adaptation  and  of  technical  training. 
Without  these  qualities  in  the  administrator  public  poor  re- 
lief is  at  once  inadequate  for  some  of  the  poor  and  pauper- 
izing for  others.  The  salary  attached  to  the  offiice  is  not 
sufficient  to  attract  the  most  capable  and,  moreover,  the 
duties  of  the  trustee  are  so  various  that  it  could  not  be  ex- 
pected that  a  person  trained  in  administering  relief  would 
be  qualified  for  the  other  duties.  The  solution  seems  to  be 
in  the  direction  of  employing  experts  trained  in  the  field 
of  poor  relief  to  act  as  assistants  of  township  trustees. 
These  assistants,  while  under  the  control  of  the  public  of- 
ficial could  bring  to  the  task  of  administering  the  poor  re- 
lief those  methods  that  have  become  recognized  as  efficient 
in  this  field.  Such  a  provision,  with  very  slight  additions 
to  the  present  law,  would  not  only  meet  all  the  needs  lying 
back  of  the  mothers'  pension  agitation  and  escape  the  dan- 
gers of  a  separate  handling  of  that  group,  but  would  also 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  185 

raise  to  the  level  of  scientific  efficiency  the  whole  field  of 
public  outdoor  relief. 

In  townships  of  large  population,  of  which  there  are  a 
considerable  number  in  the  State,  there  is  sufficient  work 
for  the  entire  time  of  such  an  expert.  In  less  densely  pop- 
ulated districts  one  such  worker  could  be  employed  for  the 
whole  county.  The  salary  in  any  case  would  be  less  than 
the  amount  now  paid  in  per  diem  allowances  to  the  trustee 
for  his  work. 

The  following  statement  from  the  annual  report  of  the 
Board  of  State  Charities  shows  the  extent  of  outdoor  relief 
work: 

"Statistics  compiled  from  the  reports  of  township  trus- 
tees for  the  calendar  year  1913  indicate  a  total  of  50,403 
persons  aided  from  public  funds  and  relief  amounting  to 
$302,377.55 — decreases  compared  with  the  year  1912  of  678 
in  the  number  of  recipients  of  aid  and  of  $3,315.16  in  relief 
given. 

"There  were  17,940  different  cases  considered,  including 
11,134  families  and  6,806  persons  not  members  of  families. 
There  were  43,597  persons  in  the  11,134  families  helped,  an 
average  of  3.9  persons  to  each  family.     The  family  mem- 
bers and  the  single  individuals  given  make  the  total  number 
aided  during  the  year,  50,403.     Classified  by  sex,  age,  color 
and  nationality,  they  make  the  following  showing: 
Sex- 
Number        Per  cent 

Males    24,355  48 

Females   26,048  52 

Age — 

Under  17  years 24,465  48 

From  17  to  60 20,519  41 

Over  60   5,124  10 

Unknown   295  1 

Color — 

White  47,296  94 

Colored    3,106  6 

Nativity — 

American . . . .   46,026  92 

Irish    459  1 

German    1,268  2 

Unclassified    2,650  5 

"It  appears  from  the  trustees'  reports  that  sickness  is 
the  most  frequent  cause  for  asking  help.  Of  the  reasons  as- 


186  INDIANA 

signed  for  giving  help  in  a  total  of  17,092  cases,  sickness  or 
burial  was  given  9,878  times.  In  addition  to  this,  much 
medical  relief  is  paid  by  contract  and  many  trustees  fail  to 
report  in  the  regular  way  the  persons  so  aided.  Transporta- 
tion was  given  1,978  times.  Other  reasons  for  giving  help 
were :  lack  of  employment,  973  times ;  old  age,  1639 ;  wid- 
owhood or  non-support,  1,822;  insanity  and  idiocy,  171; 
other  physical  defects  (blind,  deaf  or  crippled),  752."3 

In  the  development  of  private  or  voluntary  poor  relief 
Indiana  presents  a  situation  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Mid- 
dle West  in  general.  There  are  twenty  homes  for  the  aged, 
besides  four  similar  institutions  maintained  by  fraternal  or- 
ders or  churches  for  their  own  members.  For  most  of  these 
an  initial  fee  or  a  small  monthly  payment  must  be  charged. 
The  demand  for  this  institutional  care  for  the  aged  is  very 
much  beyond  the  facilities  offered.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
it  can  be  expected  that  private  benevolence  will  ever  pro- 
vide much  more  generously  for  this  group.  The  need  will 
doubtless  have  to  be  met  by  making  the  county  poor  asy- 
lums sufficiently  comfortable  so  that  so  many  homeless  aged 
and  infirm  will  not  be  repelled  from  going  there.  Undoubt- 
edly the  great  demand  at  present  for  private  homes  for  the 
aged  is  due  to  the  unsatisfactory  conditions  prevailing  in 
the  county  poor  asylums.  Persons  of  cleanly  habits  and 
accustomed  to  freedom  from  contact  with  disreputable  and 
repelling  personalities  have  a  deep  horror  of  residence  in  the 
average  county  home.  While  the  public  cannot  be  expected 
to  provide  luxuries,  it  is  not  too  much  to  expect  of  a  prosper- 
ous State  such  as  Indiana  is  that  the  home  provided  for  the 
homeless  aged  and  infirm  should  not  be  surrounded  with 
such  undesirable  conditions  that  many  of  those  most  need- 
ing care  should  with  extreme  difficulty  be  persuaded  to  go 
there.  Until  some  material  improvement  in  the  county 
homes  is  brought  about  there  will  continue  to  be  a  heavy 
demand  for  more  private  homes  for  the  aged. 

There  is  one  group  of  the  poor  and  infirm  for  which  the 
State  has  provided  most  generously  in  institutional  relief, 
namely,  "honorably  discharged  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines 
and  their  wives  and  widows.  While  men  who  have  served 
the  United  States  in  any  of  its  wars  can  be  received,  prefer- 
ence may  be  given  to  members  of  Indiana  military  organi- 
zations. The  wives  and  widows  of  such  men  can  not  be  re- 
ceived unless  they  are  over  forty-five  years  of  age  and  the 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  187 

contract  of  marriage  was  entered  into  more  than  two  years 
prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1911.  Only  such  as  are 
without  means  of  support  and  who  are  and  for  five  years 
immediately  preceding  application  have  been  residents  of 
the  State  are  eligible  to  admission.  Honorably  discharged, 
destitute  army  nurses  who  were  citizens  of  Indiana  when 
employed  and  have  been  such  for  one  year  immediately 
preceding  application  may  also  be  received.  ***** 

"The  Home  is  supported  by  the  State  at  the  rate  of  $16 
per  month  for  each  member,  officer  and  employee  thereof.*** 
The  State  is  reimbursed  by  the  United  States  to  the  extent 
of  $100  per  year  for  each  soldier.  Under  certain  circum- 
stances the  board  of  trustees  has  authority  to  require  pen- 
sioned members  to  turn  over  to  the  State  all  their  pension 
in  excess  of  a  specified  amount,  and  this  can  be  used  toward 
defraying  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  Home.  For  the 
year  ending  September  30,  1914,  the  State  per  capita  allow- 
ance amounted  to  $188,874.51,  the  National  Government  re- 
imbursed the  State  to  the  extent  of  $32,900.00  and  the  ex- 
cess pension  fund  amounted  to  $10,926.73."4 
The  number  of  inmates  present  at  the  last  report  was  961. 

The  development  of  private  or  voluntary  agencies  for 
poor  relief  in  the  State  is  confined  almost  entirely  to  the 
larger  cities.  In  the  smaller  towns  and  villages  the  church- 
es are  the  principal  agencies  besides  philanthropically  in- 
clined individuals.  But  the  relief  work  of  both  churches 
and  individuals  wherever  unorganized  and  unsystematized 
is  of  very  doubtful  value.  It  lacks  in  discrimination,  ade- 
quacy, and  constructive  effect.  Many  persons  are  helped 
who  should  not  be,  the  help  given  is  seldom  sufficient  to  meet 
the  needs  of  those  aided,  and  practically  no  results  are  se- 
cured in  putting  the  recipient  back  on  his  feet  for  self  sup- 
port. This  haphazard,  impulsive,  and  undirected  charity 
cannot  therefore  be  regarded  of  much  real  value,  altho  it 
generally  springs  from  the  best  of  motives. 

The  only  safeguard  against  this  sort  of  private  charity 
is  systematized  effort  along  the  lines  of  the  charity  organi- 
zation society  movement.  There  were  in  Indiana  in  1915 
twenty-two  societies  that  employed  secretaries  and  thirty- 
seven  other  towns  or  cities  with  some  attempt  at  organized 
charitable  work.  There  are  in  the  state  eighty-eight  towns 
and  cities  of  twenty-five  hundred  population  and  over,  thus 
leaving  over  one-third  of  those  in  which  there  is  no  organiz- 


188  INDIANA 

ed  effort  for  family  relief  and  there  are  nine  cities  of  ten 
thousand  and  over  who  have  no  employed  secretaries.  It 
would  seem  that  there  are,  therefore,  many  communities  in 
Indiana  where  the  conception  of  adequate  family  relief  con- 
sists in  Thanksgiving  and  Christmas  baskets  and  an  occa- 
sional doling  out  of  a  ton  of  coal. 

II.    Children. 

The  assumption  of  parental  functions  by  the  State  to- 
ward the  child  is  very  old  in  Indiana.  In  the  territorial  laws 
of  1795  provision  was  made  for  the  township  overseers  of 
the  poor  to  bind  out  as  apprentices  orphan  children  and 
those  whose  parents  were  too  poor  to  support  them.  Since 
that  day  the  development  in  both  the  amount  and  character 
of  the  care  given  to  children  deprived  of  their  natural  sup- 
port has  been  great. 

At  present  three  distinct  groups  of  children  may  be- 
come public  wards:  the  dependent,  the  neglected,  and  the 
delinquent.  A  dependent  is  defined  by  the  statute  as  any 
boy  under  sixteen  years  of  age  or  girl  under  seventeen,  who 
is  dependent  upon  the  public  for  support  or  who  is  destitute, 
homeless  or  abandoned.  By  "neglected"  is  meant  any  boy 
under  sixteen  or  girl  under  seventeen  "who  has  not  proper 
parental  care  or  guardianship;  or  who  habitually  begs  or 
receives  alms;  or  who  is  found  living  in  any  house  of  ill- 
fame,  or  with  any  vicious  or  disreputable  persons ;  or  who,  is 
employed  in  any  saloon ;  or  whose  home  by  reason  of  neglect, 
cruelty  or  depravity  on  the  part  of  its  parent  or  parents, 
guardian  or  other  person  in  whose  care  it  may  be,  is  an  unfit 
place  for  such  child,  or  whose  environment  is  such  as  to 
warrant  the  state,  in  the  interest  of  the  child,  in  assuming 
its  guardianship."5 

A  delinquent  child  is  any  boy  under  sixteen  or  girl  under 
eighteen  who  has  broken  a  statute  or  ordinance,  or  become 
truant  or  incorrigible. 

In  treatment  the  dependent  and  neglected  are  generally 
considered  together  and  the  delinquents  as  a  separate  group. 
In  fact,  however,  the  delinquent  child  is  really  a  neglected 
child  and  if  so  treated  would  generally  escape  the  career 
and  stigma  of  a  delinquent. 

The  history  of  the  public  provision  for  dependent  and 
neglected  children  in  Indiana  presents  a  very  adequate  pic- 
ture of  the  evolution  of  children's  charities  in  the  United 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  189 

States  for  the  last  half  century.  Step  by  step  there  can  be 
traced  here  the  growing  appreciation  of  the  importance  to 
the  state  of  its  child  wards,  and  the  intelligent  understand- 
ing of  the  methods  necessary  for  safeguarding  their  wel- 
fare. 

Since  1897  no  child  between  three  and  seventeen  years 
of  age  may  be  kept  in  a  poor  asylum  for  a  period  longer  than 
sixty  days.  Commissioners  of  each  county  are  empowered 
to  erect  and  maintain  homes  for  dependent  and  neglected 
children  or  to  cooperate  with  other  counties  in  doing  so.  Or 
the  commissioners  may  pay  to  voluntary  societies  or  homes 
a  per  diem  for  each  child  cared  for  as  a  public  ward.  There 
are  at  present  twenty-four  counties  which  maintain  homes 
and  nine  privately  managed  homes  receiving  public  wards. 
Of  recent  years,  however,  the  tendency  in  Indiana  has  fol- 
lowed that  in  the  nation  at  large,  namely,  toward  placing 
children  in  foster  homes  instead  of  providing  institutional 
care  for  them.  It  has  been  discovered  that  even  an  excel- 
lently managed  institution  is  not  comparable  with  a  private 
home  in  which  the  child  will  receive  personal  attention  and 
opportunity  for  the  development  of  initiative  and  self-de- 
pendence. The  orphans'  homes,  therefore,  are  more  and 
more  making  efforts  to  use  the  institution  for  merely  tem- 
porary quarters  for  those  children  who  are  placeable  in 
homes.  Many  children,  however,  cannot  be  placed  and  for 
these  institutions  will  have  to  be  maintained  unless  a  board- 
ing out  system  be  adopted  as  in  Massachusetts.  In  Indiana 
this  method  has  never  been  undertaken  as  a  general  policy. 

Since  1901  Indiana  has  made  use  for  all  parts  of  the 
state  of  a  system  of  county  Boards  of  Children's  Guardians. 
This  is  a  non-paid  board  of  six  parents,  three  of  whom  are 
women,  appointed  by  the  circuit  court  to  serve  as  guardians 
for  the  dependent  and  neglected  children  of  the  county. 
They  may  petition  for  the  custody  of  any  such  child  under 
fifteen  years  of  age  and  if  the  facts  warrant  it  the  child  may 
be  made  its  ward  by  the  court.  The  Board  then  has  the 
power  under  the  court  of  placing  such  a  child  in  any  insti- 
tution at  the  expense  of  the  county  or  of  securing  for  it  a 
foster  home.  This  system  of  enlisting  in  each  county  a 
group  of  public  spirited  persons  who  will  give  thotful  con- 
sideration to  dependent  and  neglected  children,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  court,  marks  a  distinct  step  in  the  evolution  of 
the  public  care  of  children. 


190  INDIANA 

An  additional  measure  of  protection  is  provided  in  the 
Board  of  State  Charities.  To  this  Board  is  given  the  super- 
vision of  all  work  for  children  who  are  maintained  at  public 
expense.  All  orphans'  homes  are  required  to  furnish  the 
Board  with  a  list  of  their  public  wards.  The  agents  of  the 
Board  visit  these  homes,  secure  foster  homes  for  individual 
children,  and  continue  supervision  of  the  child  after  it  is 
placed  in  a  foster  home  until  it  is  adopted  or  until  it  reaches 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  The  following  excerpts  from  the 
report  of  the  children's  department  of  the  State  Board  indi- 
cate somewhat  the  scope  of  its  activities  :6 

"While  all  phases  of  the  work  of  the  department  have 
received  careful  attention,  much  effort  has  been  devoted  to 
the  visiting  of  children  in  family  homes.  The  law  requires 
that  each  child  placed  in  a  home  shall  be  visited  at  least 
once  a  year  and  as  much  oftener  as  the  welfare  of  the  child 
makes  it  necessary.  This  year  every  child  has  been  regu- 
larly visited  and  many  of  the  older  boys  and  girls  received 
two  regular  visits.  Some  have  been  visited  even  more  fre- 
quently. 

"The  population  in  children's  institutions  is  increasing 
slightly  from  year  to  year.  There  are  a  large  number  of 
small  children,  especially  boys  between  the  ages  of  six  and 
ten  years.  Little  difficulty  is  experienced  in  placing  the 
babies  or  the  older  boys  and  girls.  Four  institutions  have 
a  population  of  about  200  each.  ******  These  institutions 
are  caring  for  the  dependent  children  of  most  counties  which 
have  no  orphans'  homes.  The  closing  of  the  local  children's 
institutions  has  increased  the  population  of  these  four. 
The  other  29  orphans'  homes  caring  for  public  wards  have 
a  population  ranging  from  10  to  108  children." 

"In  addition  to  visiting  children  in  family  homes,  and 
in  a  general  way  supervising  the  work  of  the  orphans'  home 
associations,  the  agency  has  found  time,  in  the  seventeen 
and  one-half  years  of  its  existence,  to  place  3,216  children, 
and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  2,449,  or  76.1  per  cent  of 
them  have  remained  off  public  support.  Finding  homes  for 
these  3,216  children  involved  5,398  placements  and  trans- 
fers. *  *  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  there  were  1,623  pub- 
lic wards  in  the  different  orphans'  homes  in  the  State.  In 
the  twelve  months  just  closed  986  children  not  previously  on 
public  support  have  been  received,  and  371  former  wards 
have  been  readmitted,  making  a  total  of  2,980  children  hand- 
led during  the  year." 

The  Board  was  also  empowered  in  1909  to  assume  over- 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  191 

sight  of  all  persons  and  agencies  caring  for  and  finding 
homes  for  dependent  children.  This  oversight  consists  in 
inspection  and  the  granting  of  licenses  to  those  whose 
equipment  and  work  meet  the  approval  of  the  Board.  The 
power  thus  vested  in  the  Board  has  made  it  possible  to  re- 
move and  keep  from  the  state  many  maternity  homes  and 
other  agencies  whose  methods  would  constitute  a  distinct 
menace  to  the  welfare  of  the  children  coming  under  their 
care.  The  Board  also  has  the  function  under  the  Juvenile 
Court  Law  of  approval  of  the  incorporation  of  any  "associa- 
tion whose  objects  may  embrace  the  caring  for  dependent, 
neglected,  or  delinquent  children."  This  makes  it  possible 
to  prevent  the  incorporation  of  many  agencies  by  persons 
whose  intentions  might  be  entirely  worthy  but  whose  under- 
standing of  the  needs  for  such  agencies  and  of  modern  meth- 
ods of  child  caring  are  lacking. 

The  distinct  need  in  this  field  which  has  not  yet  been 
met  by  the  State  is  the  provision  of  a  state  home  for  de- 
pendent and  neglected  children.  This  could  serve  as  a  re- 
ceiving home  until  foster  homes  are  found,  and  as  a  perma- 
nent home  until  maturity  for  those  normal  children  who  are 
not  placeable.  At  the  1913  session  of  the  Legislature  the 
Board  of  State  Charities  was  authorized  to  maintain  such  a 
home  and  to  receive  any  gift  for  that  purpose,  but  no  ap- 
proporiation  was  made.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  funds  will  be 
provided  at  an  early  date  for  such  a  home.  Eleven  other 
states  now  have  such  homes  and  everywhere  it  has  been 
found  much  superior  to  the  system  of  county  homes.  The 
county  apparently  is  too  small  a  unit  to  maintain  such  insti- 
tutions on  a  basis  at  once  economical  and  efficient.  This  is 
especially  true  since  all  such  homes  are  now  properly  regard- 
ed as  only  temporary  stopping  places  for  the  child  until  a 
foster  home  may  be  found  for  him.  And  since  the  Board  of 
State  Charities  has  the  function  and  the  administrative  ma- 
chinery for  finding  foster  homes  and  supervising  the  child- 
ren after  placed,  it  would  be  in  the  interest  of  economy  and 
efficiency  for  the  Board  to  be  provided  with  a  central  receiv- 
ing home. 

There  is  one  group  of  dependent  children  for  whom  the 
state  has  provided  a  home,  namely  the  orphans  of  soldiers 
and  sailors,  the  children  of  permanently  disabled  or  indigent 
soldiers  and  sailors,  and  the  grandchildren  of  soldiers  and 
sailors  one  of  whose  parents  is  dead.  Such  children  under 


192  INDIANA 

sixteen  years  may  be  received  and  maintained  until  eight- 
een, unless  sooner  discharged.  Sixteen  is  the  usual  age  of 
discharge.  There  are  about  five  hundred  children  enrolled 
in  the  school,  with  ninety-four  officers  and  employees.  The 
work  of  the  institution  is  essentially  educational.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  regular  grade  work,  vocational  training  is  given 
from  thirteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age.  An  agent  is  main- 
tained for  placing  children  in  homes. 

One  of  the  most  important  steps  ever  taken  in  the  in- 
terest of  dependent,  neglected,  and  delinquent  children  in 
Indiana  was  the  establishment  in  Indianapolis  of  the  Juve- 
nile Court  in  1902,  later  extended  to  the  whole  state.  In 
Indiana,  as  elsewhere,  the  court  was  established  first  be- 
cause of  intolerable  conditions  attending  the  handling  of  de- 
linquent children  in  the  regular  criminal  courts.  The  first 
juvenile  court  in  the  United  States  was  established  in  Chi- 
cago in  1899,  and  Indianapolis  was  one  of  the  first  cities  to 
realize  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  improved 
method. 

The  essential  features  of  these  first  juvenile  courts 
were:  when  a  charge  is  made  against  a  child,  all  the  facts 
are  to  be  investigated  by  an  impartial  officer  of  the  court 
who  is  not  primarily  interested  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
offender,  but  who  is  sympathetically  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  child ;  a  trial  in  which  many  of  the  technical  for- 
malities are  dispensed  with,  such  as  oath,  plea,  prosecution 
and  defense,  jury,  publicity.  Courts  vary  in  the  number 
and  extent  of  these  phases  of  procedure  dispensed  with,  but 
in  all  the  spirit  is  that  of  informal  kindly  interest,  on  the 
theory  of  the  parental  function  of  the  state  in  its  relation 
to  the  child. 

In  Indiana  the  court  has  not  stopped  at  this  point  but 
has  developed  into  an  agency  for  dealing  with  dependent  and 
neglected  children,  with  truants,  with  parents  and  guardians 
who  neglect  their  offspring,  and  with  parents  and  any  other 
persons  who  contribute  to  the  dependency  or  delinquency  of 
a  child.  Thus  it  has  become  in  the  truest  sense  a  children's 
court,  to  guard  and  protect  all  the  personal  rights  of  the 
child.  To  accomplish  this  it  has  taken  over  most  functions 
pertaining  to  a  domestic  relations  court,  except  those  deal- 
ing with  divorce  and  alimony. 

The  leading  features  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Law  of  1903, 
as  amended  in  1907,  are  as  follows :  counties  of  one  hundred 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  193 

thousand  population  or  over  shall  have  a  separate  juvenile 
judge,  to  be  elected  in  the  same  way  as  the  judge  of  the 
circuit  court.  In  other  counties  the  function  of  the  juvenile 
court  shall  be  performed  by  the  circuit  judge,  who  may  hear 
cases  pertaining  to  children  in  chambers  and  during  vaca- 
tion, thus  making  it  practically  continuous. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  court  shall  extend  to  "all  mat- 
ters relating  to  children,  including  juvenile  delinquents, 
truants,  neglected  and  dependent  children,  children  petition- 
ed for  by  the  boards  of  children's  guardians,  and  in  all  cases 
wherein  the  custody  and  legal  punishment  of  children  is  in 
question." 

Counties  of  fifty  thousand  population  or  more  shall 
have  at  least  one  paid  probation  officer.  Other  counties 
may  have  one  paid  probation  officer  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court.  All  counties  may  have  volunteers  to  serve  in  this 
capacity. 

The  age  limit  for  delinquent  children  brought  before 
the  court  is  sixteen  years  for  boys  and  eighteen  years  for 
girls. 

There  are  nine  possible  dispositions  of  a  case  where 
the  child  is  found  guilty. 

1.  Judgment  withheld; 

2.  Put  on  probation; 

3.  Placed  in  foster  home; 

4.  Placed  in  public  institution  for  dependent  children; 

5.  Placed  in  voluntarily  controlled  institution  for  de- 
linquents at  expense  of  county; 

6.  Sentenced  to  state  school  for  delinquents ; 

7.  Fine  imposed; 

8.  Judgment  suspended; 

9.  Reparation  to  be  made. 

In  all  cases  the  child  may  be  made  a  ward  of  the  court 
for  any  period  until  twenty-one,  except  when  sent  to  a  state 
school  for  delinquents,  when  the  school  assumes  guardian- 
ship. 

No  child  under  fourteen  years  of  age  may  be  confined 
in  a  jail  or  lockup  or  be  confined  with  adult  convicts. 

The  law  specifically  provides  that  the  care,  custody,  and 
discipline  of  the  child  shall  approximate  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible that  which  should  be  given  by  its  parents. 

In  the  administration  of  this  law  at  least  two  difficul- 
ties are  found,  namely,  the  lack  of  special  juvenile  judges 


194  INDIANA 

and  of  specially  trained  probation  officers.  Marion  County 
is  the  only  county  of  the  state  with  a  population  sufficiently 
large  to  fulfill  the  requirements  of  the  law  for  a  special 
judge.  The  regular  circuit  judge  has  such  a  variety  of 
cases  to  deal  with  that  he  seldom  becomes  expert  in  hand- 
ling juvenile  cases.  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  court  rather  than 
the  technical  methods  of  procedure  that  gives  significance 
to  the  juvenile  court.  It  frequently  happens  that  the  judge 
has  not  enough  juvenile  cases  to  become  expert  in  handling 
them.  Moreover,  he  is  chosen,  in  almost  every  case,  for 
qualities  other  than  those  that  make  for  the  understanding 
of  childhood. 

In  but  few  of  the  counties  of  the  state,  outside  Marion, 
is  the  probation  officer,  where  there  is  one,  a  trained  person. 
The  work  being  paid  for  on  the  per  diem  plan  necessarily 
gives  a  small  salary  in  those  counties  where  the  cases  are 
not  numerous.  It  does  not  generally,  therefore,  attract  per- 
sons who  have  had  experience  or  training  in  handling  child- 
ren. The  work  of  the  probation  officer  is  really  more  im- 
portant for  the  success  of  a  juvenile  court  than  is  that  of 
the  judge.  The  lack,  therefore,  of  suitably  trained  persons 
in  this  position  necessarily  keeps  the  efficiency  low.  A  re- 
cent law  has  worked  still  further  in  this  direction.  It  per- 
mits the  merging  of  the  work  of  the  probation  officer  with 
that  of  the  attendance  officer.  The  latter  office  is  frequent- 
ly at  the  mercy  of  small  politics,  the  officer  being  elected  in 
rural  counties  by  the  township  trustees.  By  thus  taking 
the  appointment  of  the  probation  officer  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  court  the  standards  are  still  further  endangered. 

In  spite  of  these  two  difficulties,  however,  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  juvenile  courts  in  Indiana  must  be  regarded 
as  a  very  great  step  forward  in  child  welfare.  There  are 
two  possible  ways  by  which  the  difficulties  might  be  met. 
Since  an  efficiently  trained  probation  officer  is  the  chief 
requisite,  such  a  person  might  be  employed  by  two  or  more 
contiguous  counties.  Or  the  judge  might  be  assisted  by  a 
volunteer  association  working  along  the  lines  of  the  juve- 
nile protective  leagues  of  larger  cities. 

For  the  delinquent  child  there  has  been  special  institu- 
tional provision  in  Indiana  since  1867-1869,  at  which  dates 
there  were  provided  for  by  law  respectively  the  school  for 
boys  and  the  school  for  girls.  The  boys'  institution,  located 
at  Plainfield,  was  at  first  called  "The  House  of  Refuge ;"  la- 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  195 

ter  the  "Reform  School  for  Boys ;"  and  in  1903  the  "Indiana 
Boys'  School."  The  girls'  institution  was  at  first  connected 
with  the  women's  prison  at  Indianapolis,  under  the  general 
name  of  the  "Indiana  Reformatory  Institution  for  Women 
and  Girls."  Later  the  girls'  department  became  known  as 
the  "Indiana  Industrial  School  for  Girls,"  and  in  1903-1905 
it  was  removed  to  a  separate  site  northwest  of  Indianapolis 
under  the  name  of  the  "Indiana  Girls'  School." 

In  the  establishment  of  these  schools  Indiana  was  one 
of  the  first  states  to  recognize  that  delinquent  children 
should  be  treated  differently  from  and  separate  from  adult 
offenders.  Separating  the  delinquent  boys  from  the  prison 
at  Jeffersonville,  and  establishing  the  work  for  them  on  the 
basis  of  a  school  marked  a  distinct  step  in  the  treatment  of 
this  group  of  children.  It  was  based  on  the  theory  that  the 
delinquent  child  is  not  a  criminal  and  is  in  need  of  instruc- 
tion and  guidance  rather  than  punishment.  Moreover,  it 
recognized  that  a  school  for  such  purposes  to  be  really  effec- 
tive in  carrying  out  its  purposes  should  be  removed  entirely 
from  the  atmosphere  of  the  prison  where  the  children  would 
not  live  under  the  shadow  of  walls  and  bars.  The  institu- 
tion at  Plainfield  became  a  model  for  many  other  states  to 
follow  and  was  an  inspiration  for  a  national  forward  move- 
ment in  the  treatment  of  delinquent  boys.  In  some  re- 
spects, however,  this  leading  position  has  been  lost  to  newer 
institutions  because  of  the  lack  of  adequate  support. 

"Boys  are  received  on  commitments  from  the  courts  of 
the  State  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  seventeen.*  *  *  * 
All  boys  are  sentenced  until  they  reach  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  unless  sooner  released  by  the  Board  of  Control 
under  general  rules.  *  *  *  With  good  conduct  a  boy  can  gain 
his  release  on  parole  in  eighteen  months.  The  average  time 
is  a  little  under  two  years.  Boys  may  be  returned  to  the  in- 
stitution at  any  time  for  the  violation  of  their  parole  while 
under  twenty-one  years  of  age."  The  Board  of  Control  has 
the  right  to  discharge  finally  any  boy  over  the  age  of  eight- 
een years.  The  present  population  is  about  six  hundred. 
The  estimated  capacity  is  470  with  the  present  buildings,  so 
it  is  manifestly  overcrowded.  "School  is  maintained  the 
year  round.  The  course  covers  the  eight  grades  of  the  com- 
mon school  system."  Ninth  grade  work  is  offered  for  a  se- 
lected number.  "The  institution  maintains  the  following 
shops  and  trades:  manual  training,  printing,  carpenter, 


196  INDIANA 

blacksmith,  shoe  shop,  plumbing,  tin  shop,  bakery,  laundry, 
barber,  tailor,  paint  shop,  florist,  farm  and  garden,  teleg- 
raphy. All  the  furniture  of  the  institution  is  built  at  the 
manual  training  shop.  The  printing  office  does  all  the  job 
work  for  the  institution  and  puts  out  monthly  and  weekly 
publications."  The  ordinary  repairs  of  the  institution  are 
kept  up  by  various  shops'  forces.  "The  institution  owns  527 
acres  of  land  and  has  more  than  fifty  buildings."  The  of- 
ficers number  sixty.7 

The  girls'  school  has  the  advantage  of  more  recent  con- 
struction and  therefore  conforms  more  to  the  later  ideas  of 
such  institutions.  It  is  fully  abreast  of  the  most  modern 
schools  for  delinquent  girls.  It  is  built  on  the  cottage  plan 
and  at  present  has  nine  cottages.  Girls  are  committed  be- 
tween the  ages  of  ten  and  eighteen  years  and  are  under  the 
control  of  the  school  until  twenty  years  of  age.  After  eight- 
een years  of  age  a  girl  who  has  committeed  a  crime  may  be 
transferred  to  the  Indiana  Woman's  Prison  if  her  presence 
in  the  school  is  regarded  as  seriously  detrimental  to  the 
other  inmates. 

A  girl  is  released  from  the  school  on  parole  when  she 
has  completed  a  course  of  prescribed  training,  which  con- 
sists of  literary  and  domestic  instruction.  Homes  are  found 
for  all  girls  when  paroled  and  strict  supervision  is  maintain- 
ed. The  number  of  girls  in  the  school  is  about  three  hun- 
dred. The  number  of  officers  and  employes  is  about  sixty- 
five. 

In  addition  to  the  two  state  schools  for  delinquent  chil- 
dren, there  are  two  privately  managed  institutions  to  which 
children  may  be  sent  by  court  commitment,  or  by  boards  of 
children's  guardians,  namely,  the  Julia  E.  Work  Training 
School  at  Plymouth  and  White's  Manual  Labor  Institute  at 
Wabash. 

The  development  of  voluntary  agencies  for  children  in 
Indiana  has  not  reached  the  proportions  that  it  has  in  many 
other  states.  This  is  doubtless  due  in  part  to  the  rapid 
development  of  the  public  provisions,  as  well  as  to  conditions 
to  be  mentioned  below  in  connection  with  the  discussion  of 
the  development  of  private  charities.  In  a  number  of  lo- 
calities, however,  private  agencies  have  assumed  positions 
of  aggressive  leadership  in  promoting  child  welfare.  The 
private  orphans'  homes  have  already  been  mentioned. 

The  Children's  Aid  Association  of  Indianapolis  is  the 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  197 

most  highly  developed  of  the  private  agencies.  Working  ex- 
clusively for  children,  its  work  includes  the  following :  visita- 
tion and  aid  in  homes  where  the  welfare  of  the  children  calls 
for  special  assistance ;  the  securing  of  temporary  homes  for 
children  whose  mothers  are  ill  or  otherwise  unable  to  care 
for  them;  the  securing  of  employment  for  boys  and  girls 
above  the  school  age,  in  such  positions  as  will  be  of  perma- 
nent value  to  the  children ;  the  maintenance  of  milk  stations 
for  the  distribution  of  pure  milk  for  infants,  and  the  instruc- 
tion of  mothers  by  nurses;  securing  the  enforcement  of 
laws  and  local  ordinances  that  affect  the  welfare  of  children ; 
carrying  on  thru  exhibitions,  meetings,  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  literature,  the  education  of  the  community  in  child 
welfare.  This  society  is  regarded  as  a  highly  efficient  type 
of  the  modern  voluntary  association  for  promoting  the  wel- 
fare of  children. 

At  Evansville  and  South  Bend  societies  have  been  or- 
ganized for  the  maintenance  of  milk  stations  for  infants 
during  the  summer.  The  Free  Kindergarten  Association 
and  the  Girls'  Industrial  School,  both  of  Indianapolis,  carry 
on  work  primarily  educational,  but  both  minister  largely  to 
the  children  of  the  poor.  The  Summer  Mission  for  Sick 
Babies,  of  Indianapolis,  cares  for  sick  infants  during  the 
summer  and  gives  instruction  to  mothers  in  child  caring. 
In  a  number  of  the  cities  of  the  state  are  day  nurseries  to 
keep  the  children  of  mothers  who  work  away  from  home 
during  the  day.  Boys'  club  work  and  the  Boy  Scout  move- 
ment are  highly  developed  in  Indianapolis  and  to  a  lesser  de- 
gree in  several  other  cities.  In  Evansville  a  number  of 
churches  have  organized  to  carry  on  a  vacation  school,  for 
the  instruction  and  recreation  of  children  who  cannot  be 
taken  on  summer  vacations  from  the  city. 

III.    Defectives. 

The  term  Defective  is  used  to  designate  any  person 
whose  physical  or  mental  powers  or  condition  are  such  as  to 
render  him  in  need  of  special  treatment  or  care.  Those  us- 
ually included  in  the  group  are  the  blind  and  deaf,  the  in- 
sane, the  feeble  minded,  and  the  epileptic. 

The  blind  and  deaf  who  are  sound  in  mind  are  frequent- 
ly not  included  in  this  group,  altho  technically  they  may  be 
so  grouped.  The  provision  for  those  of  school  age  is  pri- 
marily an  educational  one  and  thus  a  part  of  the  state  school 


198  INDIANA 

system.  The  Indiana  School  for  the  Blind  and  the  School 
for  the  Deaf  are  located  at  Indianapolis.  The  schools  are 
open  to  all  blind  children  and  deaf  children  respectively,  of 
suitable  capacity,  between  eight  and  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  Attendance  is  compulsory  for  children  eight  to  six- 
teen years  of  age.  The  institutions  are  charitable  in  that 
the  state  provides  board  and  washing  for  the  pupils,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  regular  school  facilities.  The  common  school 
branches  are  taught  and  instruction  given  in  several  indus- 
trial trades.  In  the  School  for  the  Blind  there  are  about 
120  pupils,  in  the  School  for  the  Deaf  about  290.  The  num- 
bers vary  slightly  from  year  to  year,  but  they  have  remained 
approximately  the  same  for  a  number  of  years.  Thus  the 
number  proportionate  to  the  population  is  slightly  decreas- 
ing. 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  1915,  a  much  needed 
provision  was  made  for  the  adult  blind  of  the  state.  Pre- 
vious to  this  time  the  state  did  nothing  for  any  blind,  except 
those  of  school  age.  This  recent  measure  appropriates 
$10,000  annually  for  the  use  of  a  Board  of  Industrial  Aid 
for  the  Blind.  This  board  is  to  act  "as  a  bureau  of  infor- 
mation and  industrial  aid,  the  object  of  which  shall  be  to 
aid  the  blind  in  finding  employment  and  to  teach  them  in- 
dustries which  may  be  followed  in  their  homes,  and  to  pro- 
vide such  means  for  the  development  of  such  industries" 
and  for  marketing  the  products.  This  will  involve  the  es- 
tablishment of  workshops  for  the  blind  where  instruction 
and  employment  will  be  given.  Another  law  provides  for 
the  purchase  of  the  products  of  these  workshops  by  state 
and  county  institutions.  When  these  laws  have  become 
fully  operative,  no  blind  person  in  the  state,  of  otherwise 
normal  abilities,  need  be  without  means  of  self  support. 

Indiana  in  its  constitution  has  assumed  the  duty  of 
providing  state  care  for  all  her  insane.  Very  extensive  and 
generous  efforts  have  been  made  in  that  direction,  but  the 
responsibility  has  never  been  fully  met.  The  method  of 
commitment  is  by  an  insanity  commission,  consisting  of  a 
justice  of  the  peace  and  two  reputable  practicing  physicians. 
The  finding  of  the  commission  is  filed  with  the  clerk  of  the 
circuit  court,  who  is  responsible  for  the  patient  between  the 
filing  of  the  finding  and  the  receiving  of  the  patient  by  the 
State  Hospital.  In  very  few  of  the  counties  is  there  any 
proper  provision  for  detaining  insane  patients  during  the 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  199 

investigation  of  the  commission  and  until  removal  to  the 
State  Hospital.  The  jail,  which  is  used  in  most  cases,  is 
very  undesirable,  since  it  generally  aggravates  the  nervous 
condition  of  the  patient.  The  state  provides  the  entire  cost 
of  maintaining  the  State  Hospitals,  except  clothing  and 
transportation. 

The  geographical  method  of  classification  of  patients  is 
used,  instead  of  one  based  on  the  nature  of  the  patient's 
needs.  The  state  is  divided  into  five  districts,  each  served 
by  a  hospital  for  the  insane,  which  receives  all  kinds  of  in- 
sane patients  from  the  surrounding  district.  The  Central 
Hospital  at  Indianapolis,  one  of  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the 
United  States,  serves  a  territory  of  twenty-two  counties; 
the  Northern  Hospital  at  Logansport,  sixteen  counties ;  the 
Southern  Hospital  at  Evansville,  fifteen;  the  Eastern  Hos- 
pital at  Richmond,  sixteen;  the  Southeastern  Hospital  at 
Madison,  twenty-three. 

The  buildings,  with  the  exception  of  the  Central  Hos- 
pital, are  modern  and  well  equipped  for  treatment,  as  well  as 
for  custodial  care.  The  Central  Hospital  has  a  pathologi- 
cal labratory,  completely  equipped  for  scientific  study  and 
investigation,  and  maintains  a  lecture  course  for  physicians 
and  medical  students.  They  are  all,  however,  overcrowded, 
and  the  treatment  of  acute  and  curable  cases  is  seriously 
handicapped  by  the  presence  of  large  numbers  of  chronic 
cases.  In  spite  of  the  extensive  provision  for  the  insane, 
the  growth  in  numbers  has  progressed  faster  than  the  fac- 
ilities for  their  care.  And  if  the  present  method  of  meet- 
ing the  need  is  continued  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  state 
will  ever  catch  up.  There  are  in  the  neighborhood  of  one 
thousand  insane  persons  in  the  state  not  receiving  state 
care.  Some  of  these  have  been  adjudged  insane  by  the 
courts  and  are  being  detained  under  various  undesirable 
conditions  until  room  is  found  for  them  in  the  hospitals. 
Between  four  and  five  hundred  are  in  poor  asylums  where 
no  adequate  facilities  are  available  for  their  care.  Practic- 
ally the  only  hope  of  the  state  ever  providing  care  for  all 
who  need  it,  as  well  as  giving  proper  attention  to  incipient 
and  acute  cases,  lies  in  changing  the  method  of  building 
new  hospitals  on  the  present  plan.  Farm  colonies  for  the 
able-bodied  chronic  insane,  and  for  certain  groups  of  the 
acute  cases,  are  now  recognized  by  students  of  the  problem 
to  be  at  once  the  most  economical  and  efficacious  method  of 


200  INDIANA 

dealing  with  them.  These  colonies  should  be  connected 
with  the  hospitals  and  under  their  management.  Such  a 
plan  makes  it  possible  to  give  outdoor  occupations  to  a  large 
number  who  are  in  this  way  much  benefited  physically  and 
who  are  maintained  much  more  economically.  It  also  re- 
lieves the  hospital  facilities  of  its  overburden  so  that  proper 
treatment  can  be  given  those  who  can  be  benefited  by  it. 
The  colonies  can  be  enlarged  to  take  in  increasing  numbers 
with  a  very  slight  increase  of  cost.  A  beginning  has  been 
made  in  this  direction  at  the  Eastern  Hospital.  A  farm  of 
421  acres  has  been  provided,  and  the  results  have  fully  jus- 
tified an  extension  of  the  plan  to  the  other  hospitals.  It  is 
probable  also  that  the  strict  adherence  to  the  geographical 
principle  of  classification  should  be  abandoned,  so  that  dif- 
ferent hospitals  might  specialize  on  particular  types  of 
treatment.  This  would  doubtless  both  reduce  cost  and  in- 
crease efficiency. 

In  the  care  of  the  feeble-minded  Indiana  has,  as  all 
other  states,  gone  much  slower  than  in  that  of  the  insane. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  slowness  is  doubtless  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  only  recently  that  the  feeble-minded  have  come 
to  be  recognized  as  a  social  menace.  Since  1890  there  has 
been  maintained  at  Fort  Wayne  the  State  School  for  Feeble- 
Minded  Youth.  It  is  open  to  feeble-minded,  idiotic,  epilep- 
tic, and  paralytic  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age.  En- 
trance to  the  school  is  voluntary  for  the  parents  and  guard- 
ians of  the  children.  But  since  the  school  is  greatly  over- 
crowded many  applications  must  be  refused,  and  a  long  wait- 
ing list  is  maintained.  The  school  also  provides  a  depart- 
ment for  feeble-minded  women  between  the  ages  of  sixteen 
and  forty-five  years,  who  are  committed  by  the  circuit 
courts.  The  children  who  are  capable  of  receiving  it  are 
given  literary,  manual,  and  industrial  training.  A  farm  of 
over  five  hundred  acres  furnishes  outdoor  colony  work  for 
the  older  and  stronger  males.  The  long  waiting  list  at  the 
school  is  no  adequate  measure  of  the  number  of  f  eeble-mind- 
ed  in  the  state.  As  early  as  1907,  Mr.  A.  W.  Butler,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Board  of  State  Charities,  speaking  before  the 
National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  reported 
among  other  facts  the  following  taken  from  a  study  of  the 
records  of  state  and  county  institutions :  "803  families,  se- 
lected because  of  feeble-mindedness  in  one  or  more  genera- 
tions were  found  to  consist  of  3,048  members,  an  average  of 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  201 

3.79  persons  to  each  family.  67  per  cent  of  the  males  and 
70  per  cent  of  the  females  are  known  to  have  been  at  some 
time  or  other  inmates  of  public  institutions  in  Indiana,  prin- 
cipally county  poor  asylums." 

"In  one  feeble-minded  family  on  our  records,  from  a 
rural  neighborhood,  we  have  in  direct  and  collateral  mem- 
bership 111  persons,  belonging  to  five  generations.  Prac- 
tically all  of  them  are  so  deficient  mentally  they  cannot  do 
the  ordinary  work  of  the  public  school." 

"Approximately  one-third  of  the  poor  asylum  popula- 
tion of  my  own  state  is  composed  of  such  defectives." 

"As  is  to  be  expected  in  many  of  the  orphans'  homes, 
a  large  number  of  the  children  come  from  feeble-minded 
parents." 

"In  a  careful  study  recently  made  of  the  prisoners  at 
the  Indiana  State  Prison  it  was  found  that  in  a  total  popu- 
lation of  926,  114  or  12  per  cent  were  insane,  epileptic,  or 
decidedly  feeble-minded.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  30.5 
per  cent  of  these  114  defectives  were  committed  on  such 
crimes  as  murder,  manslaughter,  and  rape,  while  in  a  total 
of  2,365  consecutive  admissions  examined  the  percentage 
of  commitments  for  this  class  of  crime  was  found  to  be  but 
14.6  per  cent.  In  other  words,  the  percentage  of  commit- 
ments for  crimes  against  the  person  is  more  than  twice  as 
great  among  defectives  as  among  persons  not  so  classed."8 

In  more  recent  years  reports  or  careful  estimates  made 
at  the  Boys'  School,  the  Girls'  School,  and  the  Reformatory 
indicate  that  in  the  neighborhood  of  one-half  of  the  inmates 
are  so  defective  in  mentality  as  to  be  unfit  to  return  to  the 
responsibilities  of  free  life.  Yet  the  laws  of  the  State  re- 
quire them  to  be  released  from  the  institutions  when  they 
have  completed  their  terms. 

These  facts  show  that  a  large  part  of  the  pauperism 
and  crime  of  the  state  is  due  to  feeble-mindedness.  No  ac- 
curate account  of  the  number  of  such  persons  in  this  state 
or  elsewhere  has  been  taken,  but  conservative  students  of 
the  problem  have  estimated  from  200,000  to  300,000  in  the 
United  States.  We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  In- 
diana has  her  full  share  of  this  number.  From  the  esti- 
mate we  would  have  approximately  4,500  feeble-minded 
persons  in  the  state.  This  includes  all  grades:  idiots,  im- 
beciles, morons.  Of  this  number  the  School  is  caring  for 


202  INDIANA 

about  1,300.  The  others  are  in  and  out  of  poor  asylums,  in 
and  out  of  penal  institutions,  repeatedly  on  the  lists  of  pub- 
lic relief  officials  and  of  private  charitable  agencies. 

And  not  only  are  these  individuals  a  burden  to  the  chari- 
table and  correctional  agencies  of  the  state,  they  are  re- 
producing at  a  rate  much  faster  than  the  normal  population. 
This  means  that  failure  to  care  for  them  is  simply  piling  up 
for  the  state  increasing  burdens  of  pauperism  and  crime. 
It  is  generally  recognized  now  that  cure  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion and  that  only  a  very  limited  education  is  possible. 

The  state  should  first  have  made  a  careful  study  to  dis- 
cover the  extent  and  nature  of  the  problem  so  that  it  might 
approach  a  solution  with  intelligence  and  comprehensive 
insight.  It  might  then  proceed  to  extend  the  farm  colony 
method  of  custodial  segregation,  already  demonstrated  a 
success  at  the  State  School,  and  possibly  extend  the  opera- 
tion of  the  present  law  for  the  prevention  of  reproduction 
by  surgical  operations.  This  law  provides  for  a  simple  op- 
eration (vasectomy),  to  be  performed  on  certain  criminals, 
rapists,  perverts,  and  feeble-minded,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
superintendents  of  the  institutions  where  these  persons  may 
be  confined.  The  execution  of  the  law  has  been  held  in 
abeyance  for  a  number  of  years  out  of  deference  to  the 
wishes  of  a  state  executive  who  was  opposed  to  it.  Before 
that  time  somewhat  over  eight  hundred  operations  had  been 
performed. 

The  feeble-minded  constitute  a  group  within  the  state 
that  is  probably  the  most  important  single  group  of  all  those 
dealt  with  in  the  field  of  charities  and  correction.  At  least 
it  has  the  most  far-reaching  influence  on  the  whole  burden 
of  crime  and  dependence,  and  yet  our  total  effective  treat- 
ment to  date  is  represented  by  one  institution  with  a  capa- 
city of  about  thirteen  hundred,  and  one  law  for  sterilization 
for  certain  selected  cases  which  at  present  is  inoperative. 

In  the  care  of  the  epileptic  the  state  has  made  an  ex- 
cellent beginning.  The  Village  for  Epileptics  located  at 
New  Castle  has  a  tract  of  1,245  acres  for  the  development  of 
a  farm  colony.  The  purpose  of  the  institution  is  "the  scien- 
tific treatment,  education,  employment,  and  custody  of  epi- 
leptics, all  epileptics  having  a  legal  settlement  in  the  state  to 
be  considered  admissable."  The  plan  has  been  to  build  the 
institution  up  slowly  and  inexpensively,  utilizing  as  far  as 
possible  the  work  of  the  inmates.  In  order  to  confer  the 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  203 

greatest  benefit  the  institution  has  begun  by  receiving  first 
those  most  capable  of  improvement. 

A  recent  act  of  the  Legislature  provides  for  the  erec- 
tion of  buildings  for  females.  While  up  to  date  the  colony 
is  caring  for  only  a  small  part  of  the  epileptics  of  the  state, 
the  gradual  growth  of  the  institution  insures  a  certain  ap- 
proximation of  complete  care.  The  latest  reports  indicate 
that  there  are  about  one  thousand  inmates  of  public  insti- 
tutions in  the  state  who  are  epileptics,  and  it  is  estimated 
that  there  are  probably  as  many  more  in  their  homes.  It 
will  be  a  number  of  years  at  the  present  rate  of  growth  be- 
fore all  these  are  cared  for  in  the  colony. 

IV.    Medical  Charities. 

Medical  relief  of  the  poor  is  a  part  of  the  public  outdoor 
relief  and  is  under  the  administration  of  the  township  trus- 
tee. Application  is  made  to  the  trustee,  and  a  regular  phy- 
sician is  sent.  Different  physicians  may  be  employed  by 
the  trustee,  each  being  chosen  for  the  particular  case.  In 
some  cases  contracts  are  made  by  the  trustee.  Sickness, 
together  with  burial,  constitutes  over  half  the  causes  as- 
signed in  the  applications  for  outdoor  relief.  The  County 
poor  asylums  are  attended  by  physicians  whose  services  are 
contracted  for  by  the  county  commissioners. 

The  State  has  established  at  Rockville  a  Hospital  for 
the  Treatment  of  Tuberculosis,  with  a  stated  capacity  of 
one  hundred  patients,  altho  over  that  number  are  cared  for 
at  one  time.  Only  incipient  cases  are  received.  Pay  pa- 
tients may  be  admitted,  altho  the  preference  is  given  to  in- 
digent or  partially  indigent  citizens  of  the  state.  The  town- 
ship trustee  pays  for  transportation,  and  a  fixed  amount  is 
given  by  the  county  for  each  indigent  patient.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  an  institution  of  this  size  is  entirely  inadequate 
for  those  citizens  of  the  state  who  are  unable  to  pay  for 
proper  treatment  to  arrest  the  disease.  A  recent  law  makes 
it  possible  for  counties  to  establish  tuberculosis  hospitals. 
Marion  County  is  already  proceeding  under  this  act,  and  it 
is  probable  that  other  counties  will  also  avail  themselves  of 
the  opportunity.  Experience  in  other  states  indicates  that 
the  counties  and  municipalities  must  assist  the  state  in  pro- 
viding facilities  for  treating  tuberculosis  if  the  disease  is  to 
be  effectually  controlled.  It  is  particularly  important  to 
have  public  free  hospitals,  because  such  a  large  percentage 


204  INDIANA 

of  those  afflicted  come  from  the  poorer  classes  of  society, 
and  private  benevolence  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  provide 
institutions. 

The  Robert  W.  Long  Hospital,  situated  at  Indianapolis, 
was  built  by  private  benevolence,  and  is  owned  and  main- 
tained by  the  state.  It  is  for  the  use  of  the  people  of  the 
entire  State,  as  the  city  hospital  is  provided  for  the  citizens 
of  a  city.  Persons  of  limited  means  or  those  unable  to  pay 
anything,  from  any  part  of  the  state  may  secure  here  expert 
medical  and  surgical  care. 

The  state  is  fairly  well  provided  with  general  hospitals, 
most  of  which  do  some  charity  work.  The  larger  munici- 
palities maintain  city  hospitals,  as  do  several  counties. 
There  are  fifty-seven  hospitals  and  sanitaria  listed  in  the 
state.  Several  of  the  larger  cities  maintain  free  dispen- 
saries, but  that  of  Indianapolis  alone  is  highly  developed. 

District  nursing  has  not  been  widely  extended  in  In- 
diana. A  branch  of  the  Public  Health  Nursing  Association 
has  been  established  in  Indianapolis  and  is  gradually  build- 
ing up  free  visiting  nursing,  altho  the  number  of  nurses 
employed  by  it  for  free  cases  is  yet  very  small.  Various 
private  agencies,  such  as  social  settlements  and  charity  or- 
ganization societies,  have  employed  visiting  nurses  for  free 
work  in  Indianapolis  and  for  four  or  five  other  cities.  This 
work  for  the  state  as  a  whole,  however,  is  yet  meagerly 
developed. 

The  development  of  a  comparatively  new  type  of  medi- 
cal charity  has  taken  place  recently  in  Indianapolis,  namely, 
the  Social  Service  Department  of  Indiana  University.  This 
was  first  established  in  connection  with  the  Indiana  Univer- 
sity School  of  Medicine  and  Indianapolis  City  Dispensary. 
Since  the  establishment  of  the  Long  Hospital  its  work  is 
extended  to  cover  the  free  patients  there  also. 

Medical  social  service  has  evolved  from  a  realization 
that  the  patients  who  come  to  a  dispensary  or  to  a  hospital 
frequently  need  something  more  than  mere  medicine  or 
even  medical  attention.  Very  frequently  their  trouble  lies 
in  some  undesirable  circumstance  connected  with  their  so- 
cial relations  or  methods  of  living.  Even  when  they  need 
medical  care  they  need  to  be  followed  back  to  their  homes 
or  places  of  work  to  see  that  they  profit  by  the  expert  ser- 
vice rendered,  so  that  they  do  not  need  to  come  back 
again  for  the  same  or  similar  troubles.  Medical  social  ser- 


CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION  205 

vice  undertakes  to  oversee,  guide,  assist,  and  render  any 
service  necessary  in  the  conditions  of  living  or  working  that 
are  vital  to  the  health  of  the  patient.  When  first  estab- 
lished in  1911  the  department  at  Indianapolis  was  one  of  a 
very  few  such  pieces  of  work  in  the  United  States.  Since 
then  a  number  of  others  have  been  started.  The  extension 
of  the  work  to  the  whole  state  thru  the  Long  Hospital 
is  a  unique  and  important  departure. 

Two  voluntary  associations  have  branches  in  the  state 
for  the  promotion  of  educational  work  in  the  field  of  health. 
The  Society  for  the  Study  and  Prevention  of  Tuberculosis 
and  The  Social  Hygiene  Association.  The  first  of  these  has 
extended  its  organization  into  a  large  number  of  the  coun- 
ties of  the  state  and  is  active  in  stimulating  interest  in  the 
anti-tuberculosis  movement.  The  other  is  but  recently  es- 
tablished in  the  state. 

V.    The  Adult  Delinquent. 

The  Constitution  of  Indiana  specifically  states  that  the 
punishment  of  offenders  in  the  State  shall  not  be  based  upon 
the  idea  of  retribution  or  vengeance.  The  measures  de- 
vised for  punishment  may  be  said  fairly  to  carry  out  this 
principle.  There  are  four  penal  institutions  for  adults. 
The  Reformatory  at  Jeffersonville  receives  men  between  the 
ages  of  sixteen  and  thirty  who  have  been  convicted  of  fel- 
onies other  than  treason  or  murder  in  the  first  or  second  de- 
gree. It  is  organized  essentially  on  the  principle  of  refor- 
mation, and  to  that  end  provides  instruction  in  letters  and 
in  trades,  besides  the  disciplinary  regime,  military  drill,  re- 
creation, and  the  work  of  the  chaplain.  In  1912  it  estab- 
lished a  psychological  clinic  for  the  study  of  the  mental  and 
physical  conditions  of  the  prisoners.  The  results  of  this 
study  are  used  in  reaching  a  more  accurate  understanding 
of  the  particular  needs  and  adaptabilities  of  the  individual. 
The  department  is  one  of  a  very  few  of  such  departures  in 
the  United  States,  and  is  regarded  as  a  decided  step  forward 
in  scientific  penology.  The  great  need  of  the  Reformatory 
is  a  farm  to  provide  outdoor  occupations  for  the  prisoners 
and  for  raising  a  considerable  part  of  the  supplies  used. 
The  number  of  inmates  of  the  Reformatory  is  about  a  thou- 
sand. 

The  State  Prison  at  Michigan  City  receives  men  over 
thirty  years  of  age,  convicted  of  felonies,  and  all  those  con- 


206  INDIANA 

victed  of  treason  or  murder  in  the  first  or  second  degrees. 
It  maintains  a  separate  department,  the  Hospital  for  In- 
sane Criminals.  The  principle  of  reformation  is  not  so 
thoroly  carried  out  in  the  organization  of  this  institution  as 
in  the  Reformatory.  There  is  no  attempt  to  teach  trades 
and  the  school  is  conducted  only  a  part  of  the  time,  with 
incomplete  facilities  for  instruction.  Military  drill  is  pro- 
vided, a  weekly  half-holiday  is  allowed,  and  religious  in- 
struction given.  The  population  is  about  twelve  hundred 
All  executions  in  the  state  are  performed  here  by  means  of 
an  electric  chair. 

The  Woman's  Prison  at  Indianapolis  has  a  penal  depart- 
ment for  women  over  eighteen  years  of  age  convicted  of  fel- 
onies, and  a  correctional  department  for  women  convicted 
of  misdemeanors.  If  "the  imprisonment  adjudged  is  nine- 
ty days  or  less,  or  if  the  fine  and  costs  assessed  when  not 
paid  or  replevined,  would  not  require  the  defendant  to  serve 
more  than  thirty  days"  the  court  has  the  option  of  com- 
mitting the  offender  to  the  county  jail  or  to  the  correctional 
department.  The  Superintendent  and  members  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  must  be  women.  It  is  unfortunate  that 
more  judges  of  the  state  do  not  send  women  misdemeanants 
to  the  correctional  department  rather  than  to  county  jails 
where  the  facilities  for  properly  caring  for  women  prisoners 
is  very  inadequate.  Over  one  thousand  women  yearly 
serve  sentences  or  lay  out  fines  in  county  jails  when  they 
might  secure  much  better  treatment  at  the  Woman's  Pris- 
on. This  institution,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States,  is  still  recognized  as  a  model.  It  would  accomplish 
better  work  in  the  correctional  department  if  the  term  of 
commitment  were  longer.  The  present  system  of  short 
terms  gives  little  opportunity  for  thoro  reformative  work. 

The  State  Penal  Farm  in  Putnam  County  is  the  new- 
est state  institution.  It  is  to  receive  all  male  persons,  above 
sixteen  years  of  age,  who  have  been  convicted  of  the  viola- 
tion of  any  criminal  law  of  the  State  or  of  any  ordinance, 
the  punishment  for  which  has  previously  consisted  of  im- 
prisonment in  any  county  jail  or  workhouse.  Where  the 
sentence  would  be  sixty  days  or  less  the  court  has  the  op- 
tion of  sending  the  person  to  the  Farm  or  to  the  jail  or 
workhouse.  It  marks  the  last  step  in  the  efforts  of  the 
state  to  assume  control  of  all  offenders.  The  county  jails, 
which,  in  Indiana  as  in  other  states,  have  been  used  for  the 


CH1ARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  207 

incarceration  of  misdemeanants  and  petty  offenders,  has 
come  to  be  recognized  as  the  most  undesirable  feature  of 
penology  in  the  United  States.  Altho  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia has  a  similar  institution,  Indiana  is  the  first  state  to 
undertake  this  forward  step  toward  a  more  efficient  and 
economical  treatment  of  minor  offenders. 

The  plan  being  followed  is  to  build  the  institution  slow- 
ly, erecting  only  inexpensive  buildings.  Expert  convict 
labor  is  furnished  from  the  State  Prison  and  the  Reforma- 
tory. These,  together  with  the  men  sent  to  the  Farm,  are 
doing  practically  all  the  constructive  work.  The  tract  of 
over  sixteen  hundred  acres  will  furnish  varied  outdoor  em- 
ployment for  about  one  thousand  short-time  offenders.  A 
larger  number  are  being  sent  to  the  Farm  than  was  ex- 
pected for  the  first  few  years,  and  some  adjustment  will 
have  to  be  made  to  prevent  overcrowding.  Ultimately,  if 
the  experiment  proves  as  successful  as  is  now  apparent  that 
it  will,  other  similar  farms  must  be  provided.  Indiana  has 
decided  that  the  jail  as  a  place  of  punishment  must  go. 

In  the  three  first  named  penal  institutions  the  problem 
of  the  employment  of  the  prisoners  is  an  important  one. 
The  following  from  "The  Development  of  Public  Charities 
in  Indiana"  describes  the  situation: 

"With  few  exceptions  all  the  prisoners  at  the  Indiana 
State  Prison,  the  Indiana  Woman's  Prison  and  the  Indiana 
Reformatory  have  some  occupation.  At  the  State  Prison 
at  Michigan  City,  practically  half  the  population  is  employ- 
ed under  contract  at  a  per  diem  or  under  the  piece  price 
plan ;  most  of  the  remainder  are  employed  on  state  account 
either  in  the  manufacture  of  binder  twine  or  in  new  con- 
struction work.  At  the  Woman's  Prison  at  Indianapolis, 
those  not  engaged  in  caring  for  the  institution  are  employed 
in  laundering  and  sewing.  At  the  Indiana  Reformatory,  at 
Jeffersonville,  what  is  called  the  trade  school  plan  has  been 
adopted.  At  neither  the  Indiana  Boys'  School  nor  the  In- 
diana Girls'  School  is  the  labor  of  inmates  employed  for 
revenue.  ***** 

"The  law  enacted  in  1909  authorizes  the  State  Prison 
management  to  contract  for  the  labor  of  600  men  and  fifty 
per  cent  of  the  population  above  800,  no  contract  to  extend 
beyond  October  first,  1920.  This  law  provides  that  'such 
convict  labor  shall  be  employed  at  such  trades  and  indus- 
tries as  shall  least  interfere  and  compete  with  outside  labor 
and  industries  in  the  state  of  Indiana.'  ***** 


208  INDIANA 

"The  law  governing  the  employment  of  the  Indiana  Re- 
formatory inmates  contemplates  that  only  such  industries 
shall  be  installed  as  can  be  used  to  good  purpose  in  teaching 
the  young  men  a  means  of  livelihood;  also  that  the  articles 
manufactured  shall  be  supplied  so  far  as  possible  to  the  var- 
ious institutions  and  civil  and  political  divisions  of  the  state, 
the  surplus  to  be  sold  on  the  market.  Two  former  con- 
tracts, hollow  ware  and  shirt,  are  now  operated  on  the  trade 
school  plan.  The  inmates  have  also  manufactured  consid- 
erable tinware,  clothing,  shoes,  mops,  brooms  and  furniture 
for  the  various  state  institutions,  as  well  as  a  large  amount 
of  the  equipment  of  the  new  Southeastern  Hospital  for  In- 
sane."9 

Not  all  persons  convicted  of  offenses  in  the  courts  of 
Indiana  are  imprisoned.  The  adult  probation  or  suspended 
sentence  law  makes  it  possible  to  reclaim  many  offenders 
without  the  disgrace  to  them  and  the  expense  to  the  State 
of  sending  them  to  prison.  The  following  report  by  the 
Board  of  State  Charities  indicates  the  method  of  the  opera- 
tion of  the  law  and  its  report : 

"Judges  of  the  several  circuit  and  criminal  courts  are 
authorized  by  this  law  to  suspend  the  sentence  of  persons 
convicted  of  felony  or  misdemeanor  or  who  have  pleaded 
guilty  to  such  a  charge,  except  for  the  crimes  of  murder, 
arson,  burglary,  rape,  treason,  and  kidnaping. 

"As  far  as  this  law  applies  to  misdemeanants  there  are 
no  available  statistics  of  results.  When  the  sentence  is  to 
one  of  the  state  prisons  or  the  reformatory,  however,  the 
probationed  offender  is  thereafter  in  the  legal  custody  and 
control  of  the  institution  to  which  he  would  have  been  sent, 
and  is  subject  to  the  rules  and  regulations  governing  paroled 
prisoners.  Of  this  class  the  institutions  named  keep  accu- 
rate record. 

"The  law  has  now  been  in  force  seven  and  a  half  years. 
Its  results,  so  far  as  known,  are  seen  in  the  following.  *  *  *  * 
In  the  time  indicated  sentence  was  suspended  in  the  case  of 
1,458  men  and  women,  480  of  whom  otherwise  would  have 
had  to  go  to  the  State  Prison,  942  to  the  Reformatory,  and 
36  to  the  Woman's  Prison.  The  law  provides  that  if  these 
persons  on  probation  violate  their  parole,  the  original  sen- 
tence shall  be  carried  out.  This  was  done  in  the  case  of 
145  prisoners,  while  298  others  who  were  delinquent  had  not 
been  apprehended  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year.  These  443 
delinquents  constituted  30.38  per  cent  of  the  whole  number 
placed  on  probation."10 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  209 

When  sentence  is  suspended  the  probationer  is  under 
the  direction  of  the  parole  officers  of  the  institution  to  whom 
he  would  be  sent  if  imprisoned. 

Another  important  feature  of  the  Indiana  penal  system 
is  the  so-called  "indeterminate  sentence."  "All  persons 
committed  to  the  two  state  prisons  and  the  Indiana  Refor- 
matory are  given  an  indeterminate  sentence,  with  privilege 
of  parole,  unless  convicted  of  a  crime,  the  penalty  for  which 
is  life  imprisonment.  This  law  has  been  in  operation  at  the 
State  Prison  and  Reformatory  since  1897  and  at  the  Indiana 
Woman's  Prison  since  1900.  *****  These  laws  give  the 
prison  authorities  an  opportunity  to  release  prisoners  who 
are  deemed  capable  of  becoming  law-abiding  citizens  and  to 
retain  for  a  longer  period  those  who  have  not  shown  satis- 
factory evidence  of  reformation.  In  actual  practice  this  has 
resulted  in  considerably  lengthening  the  average  time  of 
service  in  prison.  A  study  of  the  records  of  the  State  Pris- 
on has  brought  out  the  fact  that  the  last  three  hundred 
men  received  under  the  old  form  of  definite  sentence  served 
an  average  of  one  year,  nine  months  and  fourteen  days. 
The  first  three  hundred  received  under  the  indeterminate 
sentence  law  served  an  average  of  three  years,  two  months 
and  twelve  days,  or  one  year,  four  months  and  twenty-eight 
days  longer.  A  similar  study  of  the  Reformatory  records 
discloses  an  average  sentence  of  one  year,  eight  months  and 
twenty-two  days  under  the  old  law ;  two  years,  four  months 
and  six  days,  or  seven  months  and  fourteen  days  longer, 
under  the  new.  When  it  is  understood  that  this  increase 
is  due  largely  to  the  longer  time  served  by  men  convicted  of 
such  crimes  as  incest  and  rape,  the  figures  have  an  added 
significance."11 

The  following  statement  has  been  issued  concerning 
the  working  of  the  law : 

"Only  such  prisoners  as  are  deemed  capable  of  becom- 
ing law-abiding  citizens  and  who  have  served  their  minimum 
sentence  are  released  from  prison  under  the  parole  law. 
Even  then  the  release  is  conditional  and  for  as  long  after- 
ward as  is  thought  advisable,  within  the  limits  of  the  maxi- 
mum sentence,  they  are  kept  under  supervision.  Usually 
one  does  not  receive  final  discharge  until  he  has  a  satisfac- 
tory record  of  at  least  one  year  in  freedom.  The  law,  there- 
fore, provides  the  state  with  a  practical  means  of  testing 


210  INDIANA 

one's  profession  of  reform  before  actually  releasing  him 
from  custody. 

"In  the  eighteen  years  that  these  laws  have  been  in 
operation  9,034  men  and  women  have  been  released  under 
their  provisions,  an  average  of  about  500  annually.  The 
Reformatory  has  paroled  5,365  prisoners,  the  State  Prison, 
3,414,  and  the  Woman's  Prison,  255.  Only  26  per  cent  of 
the  whole  number  violated  their  paroles. 

"Most  of  these  paroled  prisoners  were  unemployed  when 
their  offense  was  committed.  As  a  rule  they  were  not  reg- 
ular wage  earners.  In  prison  they  were  taught  habits  of 
industry  and  they  were  not  paroled  until  work  was  found 
for  them  outside.  The  reports  indicate  that  during  the 
time  they  were  on  parole  they  earned  for  themselves  the 
sum  of  $2,530,199.40  to  which  should  be  added  board  and 
lodging  received  by  many.  After  paying  all  their  expens- 
es they  had  on  hand  or  due  them  at  the  time  they  ceased 
reporting  an  average  of  $50.30  each.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
being  a  charge  upon  public  support  they  were  earning  their 
own  living  and  saving  money. 

"Of  the  9,034  prisoners  paroled,  5,422  served  their  pa- 
role period  satisfactorily  and  were  given  final  discharge; 
459  were  discharged  because  their  sentences  expired  while 
they  were  on  parole;  154  died  and  618  were  under  super- 
vision at  the  time  of  the  report.  This  leaves  2,381  delin- 
quents, constituting  26  per  cent.  The  percentage  of  unsat- 
isfactory cases  was  25.7  at  the  Reformatory,  27.2  at  the 
State  Prison  and  28.6  at  the  Woman's  Prison." 

The  county  jails  of  Indiana,  of  which  there  are  ninety, 
are  in  much  the  same  condition  as  those  of  other  states  in 
the  Middle  West.  They  are  regarded  by  all  students  of 
penology  as  a  most  undesirable  feature  of  our  penal  system. 
The  following  report  accurately  describes  the  situation : 

"The  jails  range  from  the  old  type,  many  of  which  are 
insanitary  and  unsafe,  to  modern  structures  with  the  best 
sanitary  appliances  and  provision  for  a  good  classification 
of  prisoners  and  a  complete  separation  of  sexes.  Many  of 
the  older  jails  are  weak,  poorly  planned  structures,  unsafe 
not  only  for  prisoners  but  officers  as  well.  The  arrange- 
ment of  some  permits  prisoners  to  have  access  to  the  out- 
side corridors  where  they  may  readily  communicate  with 
their  friends.  Often  tools  and  weapons  which  aid  them  in 
making  escape  are  passed  from  the  outside.  In  some  of 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  211 

the  well  planned  jails  prisoners  are  permitted  in  the  corri- 
dor. This  is  never  safe  and  should  not  be  allowed.  Recent- 
ly a  prisoner  in  one  of  the  newer  jails  was  handed  a  stick  of 
dynamite  with  which  he  blew  off  his  head.  From  time  to 
time  reports  reach  us  of  assaults  made  upon  officers  by 
prisoners  who  are  given  the  liberty  of  the  jailor's  corridor. 
Many  of  the  jails  are  without  proper  provision  for  classifi- 
cation of  prisoners  and  in  some  where  this  provision  is  made 
no  attention  is  given  to  the  matter.  According  to  reports, 
fifty-one  jails  make  little  or  no  classification  of  their  pris- 
oners except  to  separate  the  boys,  girls,  and  women  from 
the  men.  A  number  of  the  jails  have  inadequate  provision 
for  sex  separation  and  six  have  no  special  provision  for 
women. 

"The  law  which  prohibits  the  keeping  of  children  under 
fourteen  years  of  age  in  any  county  jail  is  generally  com- 
plied with,  but  frequently  older  boys  are  allowed  to  mingle 
with  confirmed  criminals. 

"Some  of  the  jails  are  built  on  the  old  penitentiary  plan 
with  cell  blocks  which  afford  very  little  opportunity  for 
classification  of  prisoners.  The  stone  cells  are  dark  and 
practically  without  ventilation.  Some  of  the  jails  now  in 
use  were  built  years  ago  when  the  population  was  much 
less  than  now,  and  are  inadequate  for  present  needs. 

"Some  of  the  jails  are  without  proper  sanitary  applianc- 
es and  there  are  seventeen  in  which  wash  tubs  are  used  for 
bathing.  In  some  of  the  jails  having  bath  tubs  there  is  no 
provision  for  hot  water.  Under  these  conditions  is  is  not  a 
matter  of  wonder  that  the  tubs  become  foul  and  unhealth- 
ful. 

"There  are  a  number  of  good  jails  in  the  State.  The  ar- 
rangement of  some  is  not  altogether  satisfactory,  but  on 
the  whole  they  are  generally  good  and  some  are  excellent. 
Among  those  may  be  mentioned  the  jails  in  Cass,  Grant, 
Miami,  Fulton,  St.  Joseph,  Lake,  Laporte,  Tipton,  Jay,  War- 
ren, Vermillion,  Vigo,  Knox,  Greene,  Lawrence,  Owen,  Jack- 
son, Franklin,  Rush,  and  Sullivan  counties.  The  latter  is 
good  in  most  respects  but  does  not  have  suitable  provision 
for  women.  A  number  of  other  jails,  while  not  so  satisfac- 
tory as  to  arrangement  are  usually  found  clean  and  well  ad- 
ministered and  adequate  for  the  use  of  the  counties  in  which 
they  are  located.  Under  this  class  may  be  mentioned  those 
in  Randolph,  Henry,  Adams,  Huntington,  Noble,  Steuben, 
Elkhart.  Lagrange,  Wells,  Parke,  Morgan,  Clay,  Fayette 
and  Floyd  counties. 


212  INDIANA 

"Each  jail,  with  one  exception,  is  attached  to  a  residence 
which  is  provided  for  the  officer.  In  most  counties  this 
residence  is  occupied  by  the  sheriff.  Under  the  law  the 
sheriff  of  each  county  is  responsible  for  the  care  of  the  jail 
and  prisoners.  Some  sheriffs  give  the  jail  their  personal  at- 
tention and  manifest  much  interest  in  the  care  of  the  prop- 
erty and  prisoners.  Others  give  the  jail  very  little  atten- 
tion. Some  who  want  to  conduct  their  jails  properly  have 
poor  facilities  and  receive  little  support  from  the  county  au- 
thorities. In  twenty  counties  jailors  are  employed.  The 
law  requires  the  larger  counties  to  have  a  matron  to  have 
charge  of  the  women  and  juveniles. 

"An  act  of  1909  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  State 
Charities  to  formulate  necessary  and  proper  rules  for  the 
government  of  jails  and  control  of  prisoners,  such  rules  to 
be  adopted  by  the  judge  of  the  circuit  court,  and  certified 
copies  of  same  to  be  furnished  the  sheriff.  In  forty-four 
jails  these  rules  were  in  force  at  the  time  of  inspection.  In 
five  other  counties  the  rules  had  been  adopted  but  were  not 
posted  in  the  jail  and  in  a  few,  rules  have  since  been  adopt- 
ed. Three  jails  have  printed  rules  formulated  by  the  sher- 
iff. Thirty-eight  jails  had  no  printed  rules. 

"Provision  is  made  by  law  for  the  employment  of  all 
able-bodied  male  prisoners  sentenced  to  jail,  or  who  may  be 
there  for  the  non-payment  of  fines  or  costs,  upon  the  public 
highways  or  at  any  other  work  or  improvement  for  the  pub- 
lic good  or  benefit.  There  is  also  provision  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  a  workhouse  if  it  is  needed.  Marion  County  is  the 
only  county  which  has  a  workhouse  independent  of  the  jail. 

"The  sheriff  furnishes  the  food  for  the  prisoners,  for 
which  he  receives  forty  cents  per  diem.  In  a  number  of  the 
jails,  where  but  few  prisoners  are  kept,  the  prisoners  have 
practically  the  same  food  as  the  sheriff's  family.  In  others 
it  is  plain  but  suitable,  and  in  some  it  is  reported  insufficient. 

"Some  of  the  jails  are  used  as  lodging  houses  for  tramps 
and  in  some  they  are  fed  at  the  expense  of  the  county.  In 
some  counties  they  are  received  only  upon  arrest,  while  in 
others  they  are  admitted  and  discharged  by  the  officer  in 
charge  of  the  jail.  This  is  not  only  a  poor  practice  but  is 
illegal.  Thirty-seven  jails  report  that  no  tramps  are  ad- 
mitted." 

"The  county  commissioners  are  required  by  law  to  visit  the 
jail  once  in  three  months,  and  to  examine  carefully  into  the 
manner  of  keeping  the  same  as  to  cleanliness  and  sanitary 
conditions  and  as  to  any  needed  repairs  or  improvements. 
The  majority  of  the  boards  comply  with  this  law  but  some 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  213 

do  not  visit  regularly  and  a  few  only  when  urged  to  do  so  by 
the  sheriff,  who  wishes  to  point  out  the  needs  of  the  jail. 
"Under  the  law  the  sheriff  is  required  to  make  a  report  in 
writing  at  least  quarterly  to  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners of  the  condition  and  needs  of  the  jail  and  at  the  be- 
ginning of  each  term  of  court  he  shall  make  a  report  to  the 
court,  showing  the  name  of  each  person  confined  in  the  jail, 
the  date  of  commitment,  by  whom  committed  and  the  of- 
fense and  term.  A  number  of  sheriffs  comply  with  this  re- 
quirement, others  do  not. 

' There  has  been  improvement  in  the  jails  during  the  past 
few  years  and  considerable  change  was  noted  in  some  at  the 
time  of  recent  visits.  Some  are  in  most  respects  as  satis- 
factory as  the  system  will  permit.  Others  are  a  disgrace  to 
the  county  and  the  State.  One  of  the  objectionable  features 
is  the  large  number  of  men  serving  sentence  in  idleness."*12 

VI.     Administration. 

One  of  the  most  important  aspects  of  Indiana's  system 
of  charities  and  correction  is  the  work  of  the  Board  of  State 
Charities.  This  is  a  board  of  six  members,  bi-partisan  in 
form  but  non-partisan  in  fact.  Appointed  by  the  Gover- 
nor, the  members  serve  without  salary,  but  are  paid  travel- 
ling expenses.  The  Board  employs  a  paid  secretary  and 
staff  of  assistants,  and  has  its  office  in  the  State  House. 
The  Governor  is  ex-officio  a  member  of  the  Board.  The 
function  of  the  Board  is:  to  investigate  the  whole  system 
of  public  charities  and  correction  in  the  commonwealth, 
including  both  state  and  county  institutions  and  activities; 
to  report  and  publish  information  concerning  conditions 
found;  to  give  suggestions  and  advise  to  the  officials  in 
charge  of  the  various  institutions  and  activities ;  to  recom- 
mend legislation  bearing  on  any  problem  of  charity  and  cor- 
rection ;  to  supervise  all  children  placed  in  private  homes  by 
any  public  or  private  agency;  and  to  investigate  and  pass 
upon  the  establishment  or  continuance  of  any  public  or  pri- 
vate agency  dealing  with  the  care  or  placing  of  children. 
The  secretary  of  the  Board  is  ex-officio  member  of  the 
State  Board  of  Truancy,  which  is  concerned  with  the  en- 
forcement of  the  compulsory  education  law. 

*With  the  establishment  of  a  State  Farm  for  male  midemeanants 
it  is  hoped  that  the  number  sentenced  to  the  county  jail  will  be  great- 
ly reduced. 


214  INDIANA 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Board  is  primarily  an  investi- 
gating and  supervising  agency,  rather  than  an  administra- 
tive or  controlling  body.  In  its  relations  to  maternity  hos- 
pitals and  child  caring  agencies  it  has  powers  of  control,  but 
in  other  respects  it  has  no  power  of  compulsion  except  that 
of  access  to  all  facts  for  purposes  of  investigation.  The 
various  state  charitable  and  correctional  institutions  are 
controlled  by  separate  boards,  appointed  by  the  Governor. 
They  employ  superintendents,  purchase  supplies,  and  deter- 
mine the  whole  policy  of  the  institutions.  The  only  influ- 
ence, therefore,  which  the  Board  of  State  Charities  can 
exercise  over  them  is  that  of  expert  advice  and  public  op- 
inion. 

And  yet  it  is  generally  recognized  that  this  Board  has 
been  the  greatest  influence  in  raising  the  charities  and  cor- 
rection of  Indiana  to  a  level  where  they  have  in  some  re- 
spects become  national  models.  If  we  inquire  into  the  rea- 
son for  its  immensely  great  influence,  in  spite  of  its  small 
powers  of  compelling  the  adoption  of  its  recommendations, 
we  find  it  first  in  the  nature  of  the  principle  on  which  it  is 
based,  namely  the  power  of  tactfully  presented,  sane,  expert 
opinion  to  win  a  hearing.  By  mediating  between  the  insti- 
tutions and  the  citizens  of  the  state  it  protects  the  former 
from  unjust  criticism  and  accusation  and  effectually  focuses 
the  will  of  the  latter  on  the  legislature  and  institutions  and 
public  officials,  while  leaving  to  them  large  opportunities 
for  initiative  and  handling  of  details.  Few  better  examples 
of  a  genuine  democratic  control  could  be  found.  It  is  one 
of  the  best  expressions  of  the  spirit  of  American  democracy 
that  we  have. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  explanation  of  a  part  of  the  ef- 
fectiveness of  the  Board  is  to  be  found  in  another  direction, 
namely,  the  personnel  of  the  Board  and  the  staff  of  employ- 
ed secretaries.  Boards  elsewhere  similarly  constituted  have 
not  always  secured  the  same  measure  of  success.  A  recent 
writer  maintains  that  better  results  have  been  obtained  in 
Indiana  than  in  New  York  under  a  system  nearly  similar, 
and  better  than  in  Iowa  under  a  system  in  which  the  state 
board  has  complete  administrative  control. 

He  concludes:  "In  attempting  to  draw  deductions  from 
the  conditions  found  under  the  three  systems,  it  should  not 
be  hastily  concluded  that  because  conditions  were  found  to 
be  excellent  in  Indiana  the  type  of  supervision  there  main- 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  215 

tained  would  be  the  most  advisable  form  for  other  states. 
The  success  in  Indiana  probably  can  be  largely  explained  by 
the  fact  that  there  has  been  on  the  membership  of  its  Board 
of  State  Charities,  for  a  long  period  of  years,  men  of  excep- 
tional judgment  and  devotion.  These  men  have  selected 
and  retained  in  the  office  of  secretary  of  their  Board,  men 
of  marked  ability,  each  of  whom  has  gained  a  national  repu- 
tation for  knowledge  and  wisdom  with  regard  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  various  classes  of  state  institutions.  The 
advice  of  these  men  has  had  a  marked  influence  over  the 
administration  of  the  various  institutions  in  the  State  of 
Indiana."13 

An  important  question  always  raised  concerning  public 
charities  and  correction  is,  to  what  degree  are  they  the  vic- 
tims of  the  spoils  system  of  politics.  The  charitable  and 
penal  institutions  have  been  a  favorite  field  for  the  activities 
of  the  spoils  politician.  The  unfortunate  public  wards  in 
all  states  have  been  used  to  furnish  jobs  and  plunder  for 
party  henchmen.  Indiana  has  in  the  past  had  her  share  of 
this  evil.  A  history  of  the  politics  connected  with  the  chari- 
ties and  correction  of  this  state  would  relate  much  to  make 
any  righteous  citizen  blush.  But  in  recent  years  very  con- 
siderable progress  has  been  made  toward  improvement. 
Since  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  State  Charities  in 
1 890  the  movement  toward  the  merit  system  has  been  rapid, 
with  respect  to  the  state  institutions.  Not  more  than  two 
members  of  any  of  the  boards  may  be  members  of  one  po- 
litical party.  The  salary  of  $300,  being  merely  nominal, 
does  not  tempt  the  henchman  to  a  place  as  a  board  member. 
In  the  last  few  years  a  number  of  appointments  have  been 
made  to  superintendencies  of  state  institutions  that  have 
shown  many  indications  of  being  political  appointments,  but 
in  no  case  has  the  individual  appointed  been  a  dishonest  or 
inefficient  person.  The  purchase  by  contract  seems  entirely 
to  have  eliminated  the  graft  formerly  connected  with  this 
phase  of  institution  administration.  On  the  whole,  the  pro- 
gress toward  the  elimination  of  politics  in  respect  to  state 
institutions  and  activities,  is  very  gratifying.  In  county 
and  township  charities,  however,  politics  has  much  influence. 
Elective  officials  are  all  chosen  on  a  purely  partisan  basis, 
and  frequently  with  little  consideration  of  the  fitness  of  the 
candidate  for  administering  charitable  and  correctional  ac- 
tivities. All  appointive  officers  that  have  to  do  with  these 


216  INDIANA 

activities  are  also  chosen  on  political  grounds.  We  appar- 
ently have  some  years  yet  to  wait  for  the  adoption  of  the 
merit  system  in  this  as  in  other  branches  of  local  govern- 
ment. 

In  the  field  of  private  charities,  the  situation  in  Indiana 
is  very  similar  to  that  of  other  middle  western  states.  Un- 
til recently  it  was  chiefly  a  rural  state,  and  even  yet  its  larg- 
est city  is  under  three  hundred  thousand,  the  three  next 
largest  not  over  seventy-five  thousand  each.  Private  chari- 
ties of  the  more  highly  organized  type  are  usually  the  pro- 
ducts of  urban  conditions  and  generally  of  cities  of  consid- 
erable size.  Except  in  three  or  four  of  the  larger  cities, 
therefore,  there  are  no  communities  in  the  state  that  show 
a  high  development  of  private  charities.  Moreover,  the 
support  of  private  benevolences  comes  largely  from  persons 
who  have  laid  aside  some  surplus,  and  this  is  a  phenomenon 
of  older  manufacturing  communities,  rather  than  of  rural 
or  small  town  life. 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  some  explanation  must  al- 
so be  sought  in  other  directions.  The  individualism  of  the 
Middle  West  has  made  the  formation  of  voluntary  coopera- 
tive activities  of  all  sorts  difficult.  Private  charities  de- 
pend on  the  spirit  of  community  effort  to  meet  local  prob- 
lems. Public  spirit  must  be  behind  such  enterprises,  un- 
less they  are  supported  by  the  gifts  of  a  few  wealthy  indi- 
viduals. Local  public  spirit  is  not  strong  in  the  Middle 
West,  and  so  private  charities,  as  well  as  all  voluntary  co- 
operative effort,  have  been  neglected.  At  the  same  time 
the  midwesterner  has  not  been  as  afraid  of  his  government 
as  the  easterner.  He  has  seen  no  objection  to  having  the 
government  do  all  that  he  could  put  on  it.  And  if  the 
government  showed  a  tendency  to  assume  responsibility  he 
saw  no  reason  for  voluntarily  assuming  it  himself.  We  have 
seen  the  great  extent  to  which  public  agencies  in  Indiana 
have  assumed  responsibility  for  charitable  activities. 
Doubtless  this  excellent  tendency  partly  explains  the  back- 
ward state  of  development  of  private  charities. 

But  whether  the  explanation  is  to  be  found  in  the  rural 
character  of  the  population,  in  the  absence  of  surplus  wealth, 
in  an  individualistic  frame  of  mind,  or  in  the  high  develop- 
ment of  public  charities,  or  to  some  extent  in  all  these,  the 
fact  remains  that  Indiana  is  lacking  in  many  of  those  vol- 


CHARITIES   AND   CORRECTION  217 

untary  philanthropic  enterprises  of  an  organized  sort  that 
characterize  other  American  communities. 

A  factor  that  has  been  most  valuable  in  Indiana  is  the 
annual  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction.  This  is  a 
meeting  for  four  days  of  professional  social  workers,  mem- 
bers of  state  boards,  and  county  and  township  officials  hav- 
ing to  do  with  philanthropic  and  correctional  work,  and  pub- 
lic spirited  citizens,  for  conference  and  discussion.  Few 
important  forward  steps  have  been  taken  in  the  last  two 
decades  which  have  not  been  first  discussed  at  this  Confer- 
ence. It  is  essentially  educational  in  character  and  is  valu- 
able not  only  for  those  attending,  but  by  meeting  in  differ- 
ent cities  and  towns  it  brings  to  the  various  local  communi- 
ties a  broader  intelligence  about  and  a  deeper  interest  in 
the  problems  under  discussion. 

We  are  now  ready  to  ask,  what  has  Indiana  contributed 
to  the  nation  in  the  field  of  charities  and  correction?  We 
list  below  the  more  important  items.  In  many  of  these 
Indiana  does  not  stand  entirely  alone,  but  in  all  she  has  been 
conspicuous  and  in  some  unique.  Of  course,  Indiana,  as  all 
other  states,  has  followed  and  is  still  following  in  some 
things  a  penny-wise  and  pound-foolish  policy.  Especially 
is  this  true  in  the  failure  to  adopt  a  more  comprehensive  and 
adequate  policy  for  the  cure,  control,  and  prevention  of 
mental  defectiveness.  But,  taken  altogether,  she  occupies 
an  honorable  place  among  her  sister  states.  The  following 
list  is  arranged  in  neither  a  chronological  order,  nor  the 
order  of  importance  of  the  items, 

Indiana  was  probably  the  first  state  to  use  the  term 
Hospital  for  institutions  for  the  insane.  The  name  is  sig- 
nificant as  indicating  a  modern  attitude  toward  the  care  of 
those  afflicted  with  this  disease. 

She  was  the  first  to  use  the  system  of  county  boards 
of  children's  guardians,  a  step  that  has  been  not  only  of 
great  value  to  the  dependent  and  neglected  children  of  this 
state,  but  one  that  has  had  noticeable  influence  in  other 
states. 

She  was  the  first  state  to  recognize  the  need  for  a  sep- 
arate state  prison  for  women  and  to  erect  and  maintain  a 
model  institution  of  this  kind. 

The  first  farm  colony  for  the  feeble-minded  was  estab- 
lished in  connection  with  the  School  for  Feeble-minded 
Youth  at  Fort  Wayne. 


218  INDIANA 

The  Indiana  township  poor  relief  law  was  the  first  to 
centralize  this  important  function  and  bring  it  under  an  ef- 
ficient system  of  investigation  and  reports.  It  has  served 
as  a  model  for  other  states. 

The  completeness  of  the  centralized  control  over  all 
children  who  become  public  wards  is  unique  in  Indiana. 
While  other  states  make  use  of  the  same  principle,  no  other 
state  has  so  completely  centralized  this  control. 

The  license  system  for  maternity  homes  and  other  child 
helping  agencies  in  many  states  is  connected  with  the  Board 
of  Health,  thus  making  it  primarily  a  health  feature.  In 
Indiana  the  larger  social  significance  is  also  recognized  by 
placing  the  authority  in  the  hands  of  the  Board  of  State 
Charities. 

The  City  Court  at  Indianapolis  when  presided  over  by 
Judge  Collins  attained  a  prominence  essentially  national  in 
significance,  because  of  the  extent  and  great  success  of  the 
system  of  paying  fines  by  installment  and  the  suspension  of 
sentence.  While  neither  of  these  is  entirely  unique,  the  un- 
usual success  attained  by  Judge  Collins  in  these  two  methods 
is  worthy  of  notice. 

Indiana  is  the  first  state  to  assume  toward  all  state 
prisoners  the  attitude  which  the  federal  government  as- 
sumes toward  all  federal  prisoners,  namely  centralized  con- 
trol of  the  whole  process  of  punishment.  The  first  step  in 
this  was  the  establishment  of  the  state  workhouse  for  women 
as  the  correctional  department  of  the  Woman's  Prison. 
The  second  step  was  the  placing  in  the  hands  of  the  circuit 
judge  the  power  to  establish  rules  for  the  conduct  of  the 
county  jails.  The  third  step  was  the  establishment  of  the 
State  Penal  Farm.  Ultimately  this  will  lead  to  the  abolition 
of  the  county  jail  as  a  place  of  punishment. 

The  meeting  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities 
and  Correction  in  Indianapolis  in  May,  1916,  is  significant. 
This  organization  contains  in  its  membership  over  two 
thousand  persons  engaged  as  professional  or  volunteer 
workers  for  social  betterment.  It  is  the  largest  meeting  of 
the  kind  in  the  world.  Its  meeting  in  Indiana  with  an  In- 
diana President,  Father  Francis  H.  Gavisk,  is  a  recognition 
of  the  prominent  place  the  state  occupies  in  this  work.  It 
is  also  a  challenge  and  inspiration  to  all  forward  looking 
citizens. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Education 

As  the  Constitution  of  1816  failed  to  make  free  educa- 
tion compulsory  upon  the  community,  the  teaching  of  In- 
diana children  was  long  a  private  matter,  left  to  the  parents 
or  to  chance.  The  need  for  instruction  was  met  in  various 
ways,  sometimes  by  free  schools,  as  at  New  Harmony,  fre- 
quently by  county  seminaries,  and  occasionally  by  private 
academies  or  colleges.  It  was  not  until  1848  that  the  people 
finally  awoke  under  the  agitation  of  Caleb  Mills,  Robert  Ow- 
en, John  Morrison,  and  others,  and  by  a  vote  of  78,523  to 
61,887  made  possible  tax-supported  free  schools.  Three 
years  later  a  new  constitution  compelled  the  general  assem- 
bly to  provide  free  public  education.  From  that  time  until 
the  present  the  school  system  of  Indiana  has  been  making 
progress,  often  discouragingly  slow  but  always  drawing  to- 
ward an  unformulated  advancing  ideal. 

The  immensity  of  the  educational  system  of  the  state 
can  best  be  appreciated  with  the  aid  of  a  few  figures.  Dur- 
ing the  year  1913-1914  the  public  school  enrollment  was 
548,497  and  the  average  daily  attendance  was  441,168. 
These  pupils  were  under  the  instruction  of  18,499  teachers 
and  met  an  average  of  about  one  hundred  sixty  days  in 
8,784  school  plants  worth  $49,000,000.  During  the  calen- 
dar year  1914,  the  total  school  revenues  reported  to  the 
State  Board  of  Education  amounted  to  over  seventeen  mil- 
lion dollars. 

Finances  of  the  Public  Schools. 

Altho  the  financing  of  the  public  schools  of  Indiana  is 
a  complicated  matter,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  set  forth  a 
few  of  the  essential  facts.  In  accordance  with  the  great 
"Ordinance  of  1787"  the  sixteenth  section  of  each  congres- 
sional township  in  the  state  was  reserved  for  the  use  of  the 


220  INDIANA 

schools.  The  sales  of  these  lands  have  netted  a  little  less 
than  two  and  a  half  million  dollars  ($2,480,941.51)  and  are 
maintained  intact  as  the  Congressional  Township  Funds. 
A  number  of  other  separate  sums  including  $573,502.96  re- 
ceived by  Indiana  when  Congress  distributed  the  surplus  in 
the  Treasury  in  1837,  $48,943.13  received  from  the  salt 
lands  given  the  State  by  Congress  in  1816,  $56,160.13  the 
proceeds  of  the  tax  on  the  State  Bank,  $5,776,139.81  a  resi- 
due left  from  the  Sinking  Fund  accumulated  by  the  State 
to  meet  its  payments  for  stock  in  the  State  Bank,  sums  re- 
ceived from  the  sale  of  county  seminaries  established  under 
the  act  of  1818  and  abolished  under  the  law  of  1849,  and 
various  other  small  amounts  have  been  combined  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Common  School  Fund.  This  fund  amounted 
to  about  nine  million  dollars  in  June  1914.  It  is  distributed 
among  the  counties,  which  are  responsible  for  its  safe  in- 
vestment on  good  security. 

The  State  further  assists  education  by  levying  a  regu- 
lar tax  of  $0.136  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  worth  of  as- 
sessed property  and  a  poll  tax  of  fifty  cents.*  Five  and  two- 
tenths  per  cent  of  this  amount  is  set  aside  to  aid  poor  school 
corporations  which  impose  a  twenty-five  cent  tax  to  main- 
tain schools  for  six  months,  and  for  corporations  levying  a 
fifty  cent  tax  to  keep  their  schools  running  seven  months. 
In  1913-1914  one  hundred  thirty-seven  school  corporations 
applied  for  aid  from  this  "Deficiency  Fund"  and  nearly 
$143,000  was  distributed.  The  other  nineteen-twentieths 
of  the  state  "Tuition  Revenue"  augmented  by  the  income 
from  the  common  school  fund,  the  profits  from  teachers' 
examinations,  and  other  minor  sources  is  distributed  among 
the  counties  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  children  of 
school  age  enumerated.  The  County  Auditors  then  dis- 
tribute these  funds  so  that  they  plus  the  income  from  the 
Congressional  funds  will  put  the  townships  on  an  equal 
basis  per  enumerated  child.  They  may  be  used  only  for 
the  payment  of  teachers'  salaries.  The  local  school  funds 
are  derived  partly  from  the  liquor  license  fees,  and  a  sur- 
plus from  the  dog  taxes,  amounting  together  to  about  nine 
hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year,  but  mainly  from  the  sev- 
eral school  taxes  on  property  and  polls  which  are  levied  by 

"There  are  other  state  taxes  for  maintaining  the  Universities 
and  the  State  Normal  School,  the  schools  for  defectives  and  delin- 
quents, and  vocational  education. 


EDUCATION  221 

the  school  trustees.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction 
with  the  system  of  distribution  of  the  state  tuition  fund, 
which  is  a  burden  on  the  wealthier  counties  for  the  benefit 
of  the  poorer  ones.  In  so  far  as  the  counties  which  partic- 
ularly benefit  have  undervalued  their  property  in  comparison 
with  others  this  criticism  is  justified,  for  the  gain  is  the 
result  of  fraud.  On  the  other  hand,  just  the  same  argu- 
ment holds  as  for  making  the  wealthy  man  pay  for  the 
schooling  of  the  laborers*  children.  Education  increases 
productive  capacity  and  consuming  power.  The  contribu- 
tions of  the  richer  counties  are  eventually  returned  as  the 
poorer  sections  become  better  markets  for  manufactured 
products  and  better  sources  of  raw  materials  or  of  farm 
crops.  Whether,  with  our  present  curriculum,  this  argu- 
ment is  valid  is  open  to  question,  but  the  principle  is  clear 
that  the  per  capita  distribution  of  the  state  money  is  just  if 
the  schools  are  efficient,  and  that  it  is  necessary  for  the  edu- 
cation of  children  in  struggling  communities. 

These  current  revenues  are  generally  insufficient  to 
meet  such  emergencies  as  the  construction  or  repair  of  a 
school  building  or  the  purchase  of  land.  In  such  cases,  the 
board  of  school  trustees  may,  with  the  authorization  of  the 
town  board  or  city  council,  issue  bonds.  These  bonds  are 
limited  in  amount  by  the  size  of  the  city  or  town  and  by  the 
amount  of  the  taxable  property.  They  are  issued  at  a  mod- 
erate rate  of  interest,  and  provision  must  be  made  for  their 
retirement  within  a  reasonable  period.  The  wisdom  of 
borrowing  money  for  the  construction  and  equipment  of 
schools  can  hardly  be  questioned,  as  the  investment  should 
be  socially  productive,  and  as  communities  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege  of  accumulating 
funds  for  future  construction.  The  one  precaution  is  that 
excessive  debts  should  be  avoided. 

Organization  of  the  School  System. 

Indiana  seems  to  have  been  the  first  state  which  made 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  school  executive  coterminous  with 
that  of  the  civil,  for  outside  of  incorporated  places  the  edu- 
cational administrative  unit  is  the  township.  The  Town- 
ship Trustee  has  charge  of  the  school  system,  subject  to  the 
general  laws  of  the  state,  and  to  the  power  of  the  Advisory 
Board  which  makes  local  appropriations  and  tax  levies.  He 
is  given  an  assistant  in  the  person  of  the  School  Director, 


222  INDIANA 

an  unpaid  officer  elected  by  the  tax  payers  of  a  school  dis- 
trict who  have  been  listed  as  parents,  guardians,  or  heads  of 
families,  and  attached  to  the  district.  However,  any  voter 
may  be  attached  at  any  enumeration,  and  no  minor  or  mar- 
ried woman  may  vote.  This  group  representing  the  patrons 
of  a  particular  school  uses  the  director  as  a  medium  of 
communication  with  the  Township  Trustee.  It  may  deter- 
mine additional  branches  to  be  taught,  decide  the  length  of 
the  school  term,  direct  necessary  repairs,  and  request  re- 
locations of  the  building.  The  Director,  in  addition  to  pre- 
siding at  the  meetings  of  the  patrons  and  to  keeping  rec- 
ords, has  immediate  charge  of  the  schoolhouse,  under  the 
trustee,  and  is  expected  to  visit  it  from  time  to  time,  having 
power  to  expel  refractory  pupils.  Notwithstanding  this 
advisory  organization,  the  township  schools  are  practically 
under  the  dominance  of  the  Trustee. 

The  incorporated  towns*  and  cities  entrust  their  schools 
to  boards  of  three  Trustees  elected  by  the  Town  Boards  and 
City  Councils.  The  members  of  the  boards  of  School  Trus- 
tees take  office  in  turn,  beginning  the  first  of  each  August, 
and  they  hold  their  positions  for  three  years  after  appoint- 
ment. This  system  of  choosing  the  school  authorities  is 
designed  to  remove  education  from  politics  by  making  the 
election  indirect,  but  the  attempt  is  an  utter  failure.  A  very 
different  method  has  been  adopted  for  Indianapolis,  in  that 
the  schools  of  the  Metropolis  are  under  five  commissioners 
who  are  elected  for  four  years  at  the  city  election  on  a  spe- 
cial ballot  so  arranged  that  the  political  affiliations  of  the 
candidates  are  not  disclosed.  Two  commissioners  are  elect- 
ed at  one  city  election  and  three  others  at  the  next,  two 
years  later.  Candidates  are  nominated  by  petitions  signed 
by  not  fewer  than  three  hundred  householders.  Terre 
Haute  has  a  board  of  five  trustees  also  elected  by  the  people. 

Whether  the  schools  are  in  the  townships  or  in  incor- 
porated places,  the  Township  Trustees  and  the  Boards  of 
School  Trustees  have  many  functions.  The  Trustees  have 
the  responsibility  of  providing,  maintaining,  and  equipping 
adequate  school  buildings,  and,  within  the  limits  fixed  by 
law,  they  may  determine  the  tax  rates  of  towns  and  cities 
for  educational  purposes.  Moreover,  they  must  keep  the 
schools  open  at  least  six  months,  make  annual  reports  to  the 

*Towns  may  turn  over  their  schools  to  the  Township  Trustee  and 
abolish  their  own  boards  of  school  trustees. 


EDUCATION  223 

County  Superintendent,  and  provide  for  an  enumeration  of 
all  persons  of  school  age  within  their  jurisdiction.  The 
Township  Trustees  and  the  chairmen  of  the  town  or  city 
boards  comprise  the  County  Board  of  Education  which 
meets  semi-annually  for  the  purpose  of  standardizing  maps, 
libraries,  and  other  equipment.  Finally,  trustees,  except  in 
Indianapolis,  may  perform  the  all  important  task  of  select- 
ing the  teachers. 

Once  in  four  years  the  Township  Trustees  elect 
their  County  Superintendent  who  must  have  been  actively 
engaged  in  school  work  for  at  least  two  years  in  the  last  ten 
and  who  must  hold  a  three  year,  sixty  month,  life,  or  pro- 
fessional teacher's  license.  This  official  has  no  authority 
over  the  schools  in  the  cities  having  their  own  superintend- 
ents, but  outside  of  their  limits  he  is  supposed  to  be  the 
fatherly  friend  of  the  teachers.  In  exercising  a  "general 
supervision"  over  the  schools  of  the  county  he  is  required 
to  visit  each  township  institute  at  least  once  a  year,  and  to 
conduct  annually  a  county  institute,  to  decide  disputes  under 
the  school  laws,  appealing  if  necessary  to  the  State  Super- 
intendent for  authority,  to  provide  for  examinations  for 
graduation  from  certain  town  graded  high  schools  and  from 
township,  district,  or  town  elementary  schools  and  furnish 
certificates  of  graduation,  to  conduct  examinations  for  teach- 
ers' licenses  and  grant  certain  of  the  licenses,  to  make  sure 
that  the  proper  school  funds  are  turned  over  to  the  school 
authorities,  to  apportion  the  state  distribution  among  the 
townships,  to  see  that  certain  duties  of  school  trustees  are 
properly  performed,  and  to  act  as  an  intermediary  between 
the  state  and  local  authorities.  In  his  endeavor  to  improve 
the  schools  and  the  teachers,  the  County  Superintendent  is 
expected  to  visit  every  school  while  it  is  in  session  and  offer 
counsel  to  the  teachers.  Finally,  he  is  required  to  make  an 
annual  report  to  the  State  Superintendent.  Since  the  law 
gives  the  County  Superintendent  so  wide  a  range  of  func- 
tions, he  enjoys  almost  immeasurable  influence,  and  can 
greatly  benefit  the  schools,  especially  if  he  be  alert  for  the 
new  ideas  of  which  he  can  learn  at  the  meetings  of  the  state 
association.  On  the  other  hand  there  have  been  grave 
abuses  connected  with  the  office.  These  abuses  have  been 
partially  corrected  by  legislation  forbidding  the  incumbent 
to  have  any  financial  interest  in  school  furniture,  text  books, 
maps,  or  other  supplies,  or  from  being  connected  with  a 


224  INDIANA 

school  for  fitting  persons  to  pass  the  teachers'  examinations. 
Moreover,  the  qualifications  for  the  office  are  so  meager  that 
men  of  small  teaching  ability  and  of  little  educational  in- 
formation are  eligible.  The  result  has  frequently  been  the 
choice  of  individuals  whose  forte  was  politics  rather  than 
education,  and  whose  interest  was  not  primarily  profes- 
sional. 

The  County  Superintendents  carry  out  orders  issued  by 
the  State  Board  of  Education,  whose  president  is  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  This  State  Superin- 
tendent is  elected  by  the  voters  of  the  state  as  a  whole  for  a 
term  of  two  years  to  exercise  a  general  supervision  over  the 
graded  and  the  high  schools  of  the  state.  He  is  required  to 
give  opinions  to  school  officials  who  need  assistance  in  in- 
terpreting the  laws,  to  prepare  reports  to  the  Governor,  and 
to  the  General  Assembly,  and  to  recommend  plans  for  im- 
proving the  school  system  of  the  commonwealth.  Once  dur- 
ing his  term  the  Superintendent  is  required  to  visit  each 
county  and  go  over  the  books  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the 
school  moneys,  and,  in  general,  he  is  commissioned  to  look 
after  the  school  funds  and  school  property  of  the  entire 
state  system.  Finally,  he  issues  many  of  the  teachers'  li- 
censes, all  in  fact  that  are  to  be  valid  thruout  the  state  or 
for  more  than  three  years,  except  life  and  eight  year  profes- 
sional licenses  which  are  executed  by  the  State  Board,  and  he 
grades  the  examinations  submitted  in  such  special  branches 
as  music,  art,  manual  training,  sewing,  cooking,  kindergar- 
tening  and  physical  culture.  In  the  conduct  of  his  office  the 
State  Superintendent  is  aided  by  an  Assistant  Superintend- 
ent, a  State  High  School  Inspector,  a  Deputy  Superintend- 
ent in  charge  of  industrial  and  domestic  science  education, 
a  State  Supervisor  of  Agricultural  Education,  a  Head  of 
the  Manuscript*  Department,  and  others  of  lower  rank. 

The  State  Board  of  Education  is  composed  of  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Education,  the  presidents  of  Indiana  and 
Purdue  Universities  and  of  the  State  Normal  School,  the 
superintendents  of  schools  in  the  three  cities  having  the 
largest  number  of  school  children,  three  citizens  actively 
engaged  in  educational  work,  one  of  whom  must  be  a  county 
superintendent,  and  three  other  persons  interested  ' 'sympa- 
thetically" in  vocational  education,  one  of  whom  must  rep- 


*Examination. 


EDUCATION  225 

resent  the  employers  and  another  the  employees.  These 
last  six  are  appointed  by  the  Governor  for  terms  of  four 
years.  The  State  Board  adopts  rules  for  enforcing  the  laws 
regarding  education,  supervises  the  examinations  for  licens- 
es to  teach,  exercises  a  strong  influence  over  the  regularly 
paid  state  education  officials,  and  considers  possible  means 
of  bettering  the  educational  system  of  the  state. 

The  Teachers. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  entrusted  largely  to  the 
State  Board  of  Education  is  the  protection  of  the  school 
children  from  inefficient  teaching,  by  a  legally  outlined  sys- 
tem of  licensing.  No  person  may  be  employed  to  teach  un- 
less he  shall  have  completed  the  standard  high  school  work, 
shall  have  studied  at  least  twelve  weeks  in  a  "school  main- 
taining a  professional  course  for  the  training  of  teachers" 
or  a  year  in  a  recognized  college,  and  shall  have  obtained  a 
license  by  passing  an  examination  set  by  the  state  board. 
This  permits  him  to  teach  during  the  year.  Then,  if  he  has 
had  more  training  of  a  professional  nature  he  may  secure  a 
two  year  license,  and  with  increased  study  and  experience  he 
can  qualify  for  licenses  for  longer  periods.  The  examina- 
tions are  conducted  mainly  by  the  county  superintendents, 
but  papers  in  special  branches  are  graded  under  the  imme- 
diate direction  of  the  State  Superintendent.  The  graduates 
of  the  State  Normal  School  after  successfully  teaching  for 
two  years  are  given  diplomas  which  are  equivalent  to  life 
licenses.  The  elaborate  system  of  examinations  assures  a 
minimum  standard  that  is  perhaps  tolerable,  but  by  no 
means  commendable,  for  it  is  a  fact  that  a  good  many  poor 
students  in  high  schools  succeed  in  obtaining  the  licenses 
after  a  minimum  of  required  professional  work. 

As  the  pupil  is  in  some  degree  protected  by  the  licens- 
ing of  teachers,  so  the  teacher  is  protected  by  a  minimum 
wage  law,  for  a  beginning  teacher  must  be  paid  a  daily  rate 
equal  in  cents  to  the  product  of  his  highest  general  average 
grade  on  examination  times  two  and  a  half;  after  a  year  of 
teaching  the  minimum  wage  is  obtained  by  multiplying  the 
average  of  the  success  grade  and  the  grade  obtained  in  the 
examination  by  three,  and  so  on.  The  success  is  estimated 
by  the  county,  town,  or  city  superintendents  on  grounds  of 
teaching  power,  discipline,  and  general  characteristics  (in- 
cluding personality),  and  is  increased  two  per  cent  for  at- 


226  INDIANA 

tendance  at  the  county  institute.  Altho  it  is  difficult  to 
measure  success  on  a  scale  of  one  hundred,  altho  personal 
likes  and  antipathies  often  enter  into  estimates,  and  altho 
some  superintendents  have  weird  systems  of  grading,  the 
method  has  a  good  deal  of  merit  in  places  where  the  author- 
ity is  able  and  conscientious.  While  the  minimum  wages 
based  on  these  principles  are  very  low,  they  are  a  protection 
to  the  dignity  of  the  profession  and  have  materially  con- 
tributed to  its  elevation. 

After  the  teacher  has  qualified  and  obtained  a  position 
the  law  seeks  to  prevent  deterioration,  first  by  requiring  re- 
newals of  licenses,  and  second  by  enforcing  attendance  at 
institutes.  At  least  one  Saturday  in  each  month,  two  at  the 
option  of  the  trustees,  must  be  devoted  to  township  insti- 
tutes or  to  model  schools  for  the  improvement  of  the  teach- 
ers. Attendance  at  these  institutes  is  enforced  by  a  system 
whereby  a  day's  wages  is  forfeited  for  absence  and  an  addi- 
tional day's  wages  is  paid  for  attendance.  County  Insti- 
tutes are  held  for  five  days  during  the  summer,  one  hundred 
dollars  being  allowed  the  superintendent  for  expenses  and 
additional  funds  being  realized  from  fees.  Moreover,  at- 
tendance at  the  State  Teachers'  Association  and  at  the  meet- 
ings of  the  lesser  organizations  is  encouraged.  While  these 
conferences  are  not  always  fruitful  of  practical  suggestions 
for  all  who  attend  them,  they  are  inspirational,  and  they 
broaden  the  horizon  of  those  who  are  falling  into  deep  ruts. 

The  poor  quality  of  teaching  is  so  apparent  to  many 
that  they  have  joined  with  the  sentimental  idolizers  of  "the 
American  school  marm"  in  an  attempt  to  make  the  profes- 
sion more  attractive.  The  wages  of  school  teachers  are  so 
low  that  it  is  all  but  impossible  for  a  married  man  or  a 
single  woman  to  save  enough  to  purchase  a  comfortable  an- 
nuity by  the  time  when  retirement  is  imperative,  and  so 
educators  have  long  advocated  pensions.  After  several 
laws  had  passed  permitting  various  cities  to  pension  their 
old  teachers,  the  General  Assembly  of  1915  adopted  a  gen- 
eral plan.  The  system  is  to  be  financed  by  the  income  from 
a  permanent  fund  that  is  to  consist  of  such  donations  and 
other  sums  as  may  be  acquired,  by  assessments  on  the  sal- 
aries of  the  teachers  who  are  included  in  the  scheme,  and 
by  as  much  of  an  addition  as  may  be  needed  from  the  state 
tuition  tax.  Any  city  of  at  least  five  thousand  inhabitants, 
any  county,  or  any  public  state  supported  school  whose 


EDUCATION  227 

teachers  devote  their  entire  time  to  teaching  may  constitute 
a  unit;  on  petition  of  a  majority  of  the  teachers  and  a  ma- 
jority of  the  school  officials  accompanied  by  the  applications 
of  the  teachers  to  become  beneficiaries  of  the  act,  a  unit 
may  benefit  from  the  fund.  During  the  first  fifteen  years 
of  service  the  teacher  must  pay  ten  dollars  a  year,  during 
the  next  ten  years  twenty  dollars  per  annum,  during  another 
decade  twenty-five  dollars,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  teaching 
period  twenty.  No  payments  are  to  be  made  after  the  for- 
tieth year.  A  teacher  who  has  served  thirty-five  years, 
twelve  of  which  may  have  been  in  some  other  state,  may  re- 
tire on  an  annuity  of  six  hundred  dollars,  and  the  allowances 
increase  with  the  length  of  service  to  seven  hundred  dollars 
after  forty  years.  If  a  teacher  is  disabled  permanently  or 
temporarily  after  twenty-five  years  of  teaching  the  annu- 
ity is  three  hundred  fifty  dollars,  and  the  stipend  is  increas- 
ed by  twenty-five  dollars  for  each  additional  year  of  teaching 
up  to  five  hundred  seventy-five  dollars  at  thirty-four  years. 
On  becoming  beneficiaries  of  the  system,  teachers  are  to 
pay  the  arrearages,  either  in  cash  or  in  five  annual  install- 
ments with  five  per  cent  compound  interest  on  the  deferred 
payments.  The  payments  of  the  regular  dues  are  to  be  de- 
ducted from  the  salaries  by  the  school  trustees  and  paid 
over  to  the  Retirement  Fund.  In  order  that  teachers  may 
not  hesitate  to  enter  the  system  because  of  fear  that  they 
may  lose  their  investment  on  leaving  the  profession,  the 
law  provides  that  an  individual  on  withdrawing  may  receive 
a  rebate  of  his  payments  minus  any  disability  annuities  that 
he  has  enjoyed.  The  accounts  of  the  various  units  are  kept 
separately,  and  the  amounts  required  for  annuities  from 
the  State  Tuition  Fund  are  deducted  from  the  shares  of  the 
respective  units  at  the  semi-annual  distributions. 

This  pension  system  is  not  quite  perfect  as  there  is  no 
compulsion  upon  any  individual  teacher  to  accept  its  bene- 
fits. Moreover,  refunds  of  payments  are  made  to  teachers, 
or  to  their  heirs  if  withdrawal  or  death  comes  before  annui- 
ties have  been  received.  Thus  the  system  is  not  in  any 
sense  one  of  insurance,  but  is  rather  a  pension  granted  to 
those  teachers  who  are  willing  to  deposit  a  little  money 
without  interest.  Perhaps  this  is  justified  by  the  fact  that 
most  school  teachers  are  so  short-sighted  that  they  cannot 
see  the  necessity  of  old  age  insurance,  many  a  person  think- 
ing that  some  windfall  or  other  will  free  him  from  the  need 


228  INDIANA 

of  an  annuity.  Finally,  the  foreseeing  teachers  cannot  avail 
themselves  of  the  pension  privilege  until  they  can  persuade 
a  majority  of  the  others  in  their  units  to  apply,  or  else  until 
they  can  obtain  new  positions  in  organized  units. 

Above  the  city  teachers  are  the  municipal  superintend- 
ents. Altho  no  law  dictates  their  qualifications,  they  are 
probably  the  ablest  group  of  individuals  in  the  entire  school 
system  of  the  state.  The  superintendents  are  hired  directly 
by  the  boards  of  school  trustees,  and  they  in  turn  are  al- 
lowed to  exercise  a  large  discretion  in  the  selection  of  the  in- 
structors.* On  the  superintendent  more  than  on  any  other 
individual  depends  the  efficiency  of  a  city  system,  for  he 
must  be  the  intermediary  between  the  board  and  the  teach- 
ers. It  is  his  function  to  raise  the  schools  to  the  highest 
standard  allowed  by  the  resources  of  the  municipality,  to 
advise  the  board  on  matters  of  routine  and  of  special  mo- 
ment, to  coach  weak  teachers,  to  look  after  the  physical 
equipment  of  the  schools,  and,  in  short,  to  be  a  general  ad- 
ministrator. The  city  superintendents  have  an  associa- 
tion, which  holds  spirited  and  profitable  meetings  and  which 
has  initiated  many  of  the  best  features  of  the  school  laws 
of  Indiana. 

When  the  teaching  force  of  the  state  is  considered  as  a 
whole,  several  thots  arise.  In  the  first  place,  altho  the 
qualifications  for  licenses  are  too  lenient,  and  consequently 
the  grade  of  intellect  possessed  by  many  instructors  is  de- 
plorably inferior,  there  are  many  persons  of  exceptional 
ability  giving  their  best  selves  to  the  children  of  the  com- 
monwealth. Again,  the  teachers  are  frequently  greatly 
handicapped  by  the  lack  of  equipment,  and  by  inadequate 
rooms,  but  as  time  passes  the  quality  of  the  school  plants  is 
continually  improving.  A  third  deplorable  fact  is  the  low 
social  position  conceded  to  some  teachers  of  the  highest 
ability  and  of  excellent  personality  by  other  citizens.  These 
evils  are  largely  due  to  two  things,  to  low  pay  and  to  politics. 
During  the  year  1913-1914  the  average  daily  wages  of  men 
employed  as  teachers  was  $4.75  in  the  high  schools  and  $3.26 
in  the  grade  schools,  and  that  of  women  $3.93  in  the  high 
schools  and  $2.99  in  the  grades.  Probably  more  than  half 
the  teachers  in  each  class  received  less  than  the  mean  for 


*In  Indianapolis  the  organization  of  the  paid  administrative  force 
is  more  complex. 


EDUCATION  229 

the  group.  Such  low  remuneration*  cannot  be  expected  to 
attract  the  ablest  persons  save  for  short  intervals  between 
periods  of  study  or  while  awaiting  business  openings,  for 
the  pay  is  hardly  sufficient  to  enable  a  person  to  secure  the 
comforts  necessary  to  the  wholesome  life  a  teacher  should 
lead,  and  it  is  certainly  insufficient  to  afford  regular  associa- 
tion in  more  cultured  circles  of  society.  The  meager  com- 
pensation coupled  with  the  general  feeling  that  a  teacher  is 
a  public  servant  largely  accounts  for  the  scant  social  recog- 
nition. But  the  snobbishness  of  society  is  by  no  means  as 
important  a  drag  upon  the  teachers  as  is  politics.  From 
the  school  where  "Nobody  fails  in  English"  to  the  other 
where  "Of  course  this  girl  deserves  no  consideration,  she  is 
the  daughter  of  a  rag-man;  but  the  other  must  be  treated 
well,  for  her  father  keeps  a  large  store"  the  step  is  half  way 
across  the  state,  but  in  some  communities  it  is  an  open  secret 
that  certain  pupils  pass  courses  and  receive  diplomas  on  the 
merits  of  their  relatives.  Probably  the  situation  in  Indiana 
is  not  a  whit  worse  than  in  other  states :  certainly  the  con- 
scientious teacher  is  in  many  ways  hampered. 

The  Pupils. 

In  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  was 
taken  the  final  step  in  breaking  away  from  the  old  ideas 
of  allowing  the  parent  to  provide  the  education  he  thought 
proper.  The  law  compels  the  attendance  at  school  of  all 
children  between  the  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen  years,  ex- 
cept those  certified  by  the  physician  to  be  physically  unable 
to  stand  the  training.  If  the  child  is  blind  or  deaf  it  is  to 
be  sent  to  the  state  institution  for  such  defectives,  other- 
wise to  the  regular  public  schools  unless  its  parents  prefer 
to  send  it  to  an  institution  having  a  session  at  least  as  long 
as  that  of  the  common  schools.  After  the  age  of  fourteen 
is  attained  the  child  may  secure  permission  to  work  pro- 
vided it  has  completed  the  studies  of  the  fifth  grade,  but  no 
child  may  enter  industry  without  a  permit  until  it  has  pass- 
ed its  sixteenth  birthday.  Even  if  work  papers  have  been 


*While  it  is  true  that  the  wages  of  Indiana  teachers  are  low, 
they  are  higher  than  in  many  commonwealths.  For  instance,  the  av- 
erage monthly  pay  of  women  teachers  in  the  United  States  was  $61.31 
in  1913  while  Indiana  stood  ninth  with  an  average  of  $69.45.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  were  twenty-four  states  that  paid  higher  monthly 
salaries  to  men  teachers  than  Indiana,  which  paid  $74.46 — less  than 
the  mean  for  the  country  as  a  whole. 


230  INDIANA 

secured,  a  child  until  its  sixteenth  birthday  must  be  in 
school  when  not  employed.  This  compulsory  education  law 
is  enforced  by  truant  officers  who  in  the  smaller  counties  are 
also  probation  officers.  During  the  first  five  years  of  the 
enforcement  of  the  law  over  seventy-four  per  cent  of  the 
enumerated  children  were  enrolled  in  school,  while  for  the 
last  nine  years  before  its  enactment  the  enrollment  had  been 
but  sixty-eight  per  cent.*  It  is  estimated,  indeed,  that  the 
law  increased  the  daily  school  attendance  by  over  twenty- 
five  thousand. 

The  law  permits  the  establishment  of  public  kinder- 
gartens in  incorporated  towns  and  cities  of  six  thousand  in- 
habitants or  more  and  allows  the  levy  of  a  two  cent  tax  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  these  institutions  or  to  aid  free  public 
kindergartens.  But  no  part  of  the  state  tuition  fund  may 
be  used  for  such  purposes.  However,  the  school  career  of 
the  child  is  generally  begun  at  six  in  the  primary  or  "ele- 
mentary schools."  The  General  Assembly  has  voted  that 
"Orthography,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geography,  En- 
glish grammar,  physiology,  history  of  the  United  States, 
and  good  behavior,  and  such  other  branches  of  learning  and 
other  languages  as  the  advancement  of  the  pupils  may  re- 
quire and  the  trustees  from  time  to  time  direct"  shall  be 
taught  in  the  common  schools.  The  course  of  study  has 
been  outlined  with  the  view  of  adapting  it  as  well  as  pos- 
sible to  the  different  circumstances  of  country,  town,  and 
city  schools.  Moreover,  the  course  has  been  adapted  to  the 
average  pupil  and  is  therefore  injurious  to  the  bright  child 
who  is  not  compelled  to  exert  himself  to  his  full  capacity. 
In  large  cities  half-yearly  promotions  and  advanced  classes 
may  be  introduced  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  more  intelligent 
individuals.  Furthermore,  the  course  is  planned  to  be  very 
thoro,  as  there  is  a  good  deal  of  repetition.  These 
studies  have  been  supplemented  by  some  such  additions  as 
civics,  Indiana  history,  music  and  drawing,  and  the  state 
law  of  1913  made  obligatory  on  town,  township,  and  city 
schools  the  teaching  of  elementary  agriculture,  domestic 
science,  and  industrial  arts.  The  instruction  in  these 
practical  branches  has  not  yet  been  well  standardized,  as 
the  supply  of  teachers  equipped  for  such  work  is  very  in- 
adequate. It  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  that  the  next  few 

*The  enumeration  includes  children  from  six  to  twenty. 


EDUCATION  231 

years  will  see  a  great  improvement  in  the  handling  of  these 
vital  subjects  as  the  instructors  are  trained  and  as  equip- 
ment is  accumulated. 

In  the  cities  it  has  been  possible  to  raise  the  elementary 
schools  to  a  high  degree  of  efficiency,  but  the  one  or  two 
room  country  schools  have  not  been  able  to  keep  pace  with 
the  ever  rising  standards.  Consolidation,  the  remedy  for 
this  situation  advocated  by  Caleb  Mills  in  1849,  has  now 
been  widely  adopted  as  the  result  of  a  number  of  laws.  In 
1899  the  township  trustee  was  authorized  to  provide  trans- 
portation for  every  child  living  more  than  two  miles  from 
the  nearest  public  school;  and  two  years  later  he  was  re- 
quired to  close  every  district  school  having  an  attendance 
less  than  twelve,  and  to  pay  for  the  transportation  of  the 
pupils  thus  discommoded,  and  he  was  permitted  to  close 
schools  having  fewer  than  fifteen  students.  Today  the  law 
requires  the  transportation  at  public  expense  of  children  be- 
tween six  and  twelve  years  of  age  who  live  more  than  a 
mile  from  the  school,  and  of  all  children  residing  more  than 
two  miles  away.  The  law  also  permits  the  combining  of 
the  schools  within  townships,  or  of  two  or  more  townships. 
These  legal  provisions  have  made  possible  the  great  move- 
ment for  the  consolidation  of  the  schools  that  has  recently 
taken  place.  During  the  school  year  1913-1914  there  were 
fifty-nine  of  the  Indiana  counties  having  from  one  to  sixteen 
consolidated  elementary  schools  apiece  and  a  total  of  two 
hundred  ninety  such  buildings,  as  contrasted  with  forty-six 
counties  and  one  hundred  sixty  houses  five  years  previous. 
In  1914  the  total  number  of  counties  having  consolidated 
schools  of  any  type  was  seventy,  an  increase  of  twelve  in 
five  years,  and  the  total  number  of  consolidated  schools  was 
665,  a  gain  of  239.  At  the  latter  date  over  twenty-six 
thousand  children  were  transported  to  their  classes. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  two  of  the  strongest  argu- 
ments for  consolidation  are  fallacious:  the  larger  schools 
are  not  always  conducted  at  less  expense  than  the  numerous 
district  schools,  and  the  attendance  in  the  lower  grades  has 
not  universally  been  improved.  On  the  other  hand  there 
are  distinct  gains  in  consolidation.  The  large  schools  can 
have  better  paid  teachers  who  may  specialize  either  in 
grades  or  in  subjects,  can  purchase  more  adequate  equip- 
ment, and  can  receive  pupils  for  a  longer  term  each  year. 
With  centralization  the  course  and  the  grading  may  be  so 


232  INDIANA 

arranged  that  the  pupils  can  use  their  time  to  best  ad- 
vantage. Aside  from  the  purely  pedagogical  merits  of  con- 
solidation there  are  other  points  to  be  considered.  First, 
the  larger  school  house  can  be  built  in  a  sanitary  way,  and 
the  health  of  the  children  can  be  well  protected.  Moreover, 
with  larger  numbers  of  pupils  there  is  possible  a  genuine 
solidarity  in  the  school,  class  contests,  school  loyalty,  and 
keen  competition  in  all  lines  of  activity.  Finally,  the  con- 
solidated school  offers  a  social  center  for  an  enlarged  com- 
munity. With  all  these  advantages  it  is  no  wonder  that 
the  consolidated  school  is  rapidly  gaining  favor.  It  has, 
however,  one  great  drawback,  for  the  transportation  of  the 
children  frequently  entails  their  riding  in  cold  but  poorly 
ventilated  wagons  for  as  much  as  two  hours  in  the  morn- 
ing and  two  at  night.  Thus  in  the  winter  months  they  have 
to  leave  home  before  it  is  light,  and  return  after  dark.  The 
ride  seriously  cuts  into  the  play  time,  and  makes  impossible 
much  work  about  the  home  either  at  chores  or  lessons.  Be- 
cause of  its  many  good  features  the  consolidated  school  has 
been  permanently  established,  but  the  time  must  be  hasten- 
ed when  the  children  will  be  carried  from  their  homes  and 
back  in  swift  automobiles,  rather  than  in  the  slow  transfer 
wagons.  As  the  roads  in  the  backward  communities  are 
improved  the  movement  toward  consolidation  will  probably 
be  intensified. 

If  all  children  finished  the  complete  course  there  ought 
to  be  about  three  students  in  the  high  schools  for  every 
seven  in  the  elementary.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  ratio  is 
not  quite  one  to  six,  and  the  high  school  graduates  number 
about  one-third  the  graduates  of  the  grades.  Probably  be- 
cause the  children  of  the  more  influential  families  attend 
them,  the  high  schools  have  attracted  attention  out  of  pro- 
portion to  the  number  they  serve.  The  high  schools  are 
divided  into  three  classes.  In  1915  there  were  about  five 
hundred  "commissioned  high  schools,"  schools  having  sani- 
tary buildings  affording  room  for  their  pupils ;  well  selected 
and  growing  libraries ;  laboratories  properly  equipped  for  the 
science  work  undertaken  in  the  school ;  good  teaching  by  at 
least  two  persons,  of  whom  one  must  be  a  college  graduate, 
who  give  their  entire  time  to  the  high  school  work ;  an  eight 
month  year  and  a  thirty-two  month  course  including  the 
subjects  legally  necessary;  work  in  music,  drawing,  agri- 
cultural or  industrial  training,  and  domestic  science;  com- 


EDUCATION  233 

plete  records  of  the  work  of  each  student;  and  three  years 
work  in  language  for  students  preparing  for  college  en- 
trance. About  one  hundred  sixty  high  schools  fell  into  the 
"certified"  class  which  must  meet  the  same  requirements  as 
the  commissioned  schools,  except  for  the  three  years  course 
in  a  language  for  college  entrance  and  for  the  fact  that  the 
school  year  need  not  exceed  seven  months  and  the  complete 
course  twenty-eight  months.  A  small  number  of  high 
schools,  thirty-five,  are  styled  "accredited,"  which  means 
that  their  courses  for  one,  two,  or  three  years  are  recogniz- 
ed as  the  equivalent  of  similar  work  in  commissioned  high 
schools.  Every  child  in  the  state  is  legally  entitled  to  a 
high  school  course,  and  if  his  town  cannot  give  it  to  him,  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  trustee  to  grant  him  a  "transfer,"  the 
right  to  study  or  enroll  in  another  corporation.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  requires  every  commissioned  high  school  to 
teach  commercial  arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry;  United 
States,  ancient,  medieval,  or  modern  history;  commercial 
or  physical  geography;  English  composition  and  rhetoric; 
American  and  English  literature ;  German  or  Latin ;  biology, 
physics,  or  chemistry ;  civil  government ;  drawing ;  domestic 
science;  and  agriculture  or  industrial  work. 

The  course  of  study  for  the  high  schools  has  been  de- 
veloped just  as  carefully  as  that  for  the  grades,  and  is  on 
the  whole  adapted  to  fit  the  child  for  a  really  intelligent  life 
after  commencement.  Doubtless  it  would  be  better  to  re- 
quire four  years  of  English  instead  of  three,  as  many  of  the 
pupils  least  able  to  handle  the  vernacular  refuse  to  elect  it 
in  their  senior  year;  and  it  would  be  wise  to  substitute 
French  or  Spanish  for  Latin.  But  the  weakness  of  the  high 
schools  does  not  lie  in  their  course  of  study  as  much  as  in 
their  overworked  teachers.  The  experience  of  college  in- 
structors with  high  school  graduates  furnishes  abundant 
evidence  that  the  children  are  not  made  to  do  thoro  work 
and  are  not  trained  to  reason  accurately. 

For  the  high  schools  and  the  grades,  the  state  has  pre- 
scribed a  series  of  text  books.  The  system  of  "state  adop- 
tion" provides  the  children  with  their  texts  at  a  low  price, 
compels  the  use  of  a  fairly  good  book  in  every  community, 
assures  children  against  loss  of  time  when  they  are  trans- 
ferred from  one  school  to  another  within  the  common- 
wealth, prevents  the  corruption  of  trustees,  and  requires  a 
periodic  reconsideration  of  the  merits  of  various  works  by 


234  INDIANA 

a  group  of  the  leading  educators.  On  the  other  hand  there 
are  certain  drawbacks,  for  the  teacher  of  ability  and  orig- 
inality is  hampered  by  the  restrictions,  and  the  more  pro- 
gressive communities  are  prevented  from  taking  immediate 
advantage  of  new  books,  or  from  adopting  texts  superior  to 
those  selected  by  the  state  authorities. 

Another  aspect  of  this  question  must  not  be  neglected, 
for  the  Indiana  State  Federation  of  Labor  has  been  insist- 
ing that  the  text  books  should  be  furnished  free.  Today 
pauper  children  are  thus  helped  by  the  township  trustees, 
but  the  receipt  of  such  aid  is  a  mark  of  poverty.  The  free 
book  system  would  make  it  somewhat  cheaper  for  many  of 
the  poorer  families  to  send  their  children  to  school 
without  the  resort  to  charity.  Finally,  the  state  ownership 
plan  should  prove  to  be  more  economical  socially  than  indi- 
vidual purchase,  not  so  much  that  a  lower  price  could  be 
obtained  as  that  the  books  could  be  used  more  times.  One 
old  objection  to  the  free  textbook  has  been  dispelled  by  re- 
cent studies  of  the  endurance  of  microorganisms  in  library 
volumes,  and  the  comforting  conclusion  that  practically  all 
germs  on  the  pages  of  a  book  are  killed  or  devitalized  with- 
in three  months.  Probably  the  greatest  objection  to  free 
texts  is  the  possibility  of  aversion  to  change  if  each  town 
had  an  investment  in  books.  This  could  be  obviated  par- 
tially by  adoptions  for  a  period  equal  to  the  average  life  of 
a  volume,  and  by  so  arranging  adoptions  in  classes  that  the 
terms  of  several  books  would  expire  each  year. 

Vocational  Education. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1913  made  a  modification  of 
the  curriculum  which  may  eventually  work  an  educational 
revolution.  The  act  required  that  elementary  agriculture 
be  taught  in  the  grades  of  all  town  and  township  schools, 
that  elementary  industrial  work  should  be  taught  in  the 
grades  of  all  the  city  and  town  schools  and  that  elementary 
domestic  science  be  taught  in  the  grades  of  all  township, 
town,  and  city  schools.  The  courses  were  to  be  outlined  by 
the  state  board  of  education  which  was  augmented  by 
"three  persons  actively  interested  in,  and  of  known  sympa- 
thy with,  vocational  education."  Two  new  state  officers 
were  to  be  appointed  by  the  State  Superintendent,  one  to 
have  charge  of  the  industrial  and  domestic  science  training 
and  the  other  of  agricultural  education. 


EDUCATION  235 

In  addition  to  this  compulsory  vocational  education  the 
school  corporations  are  authorized  to  establish  vocational 
schools  or  departments  for  vocational  education,  and  to  fi- 
nance these,  if  necessary,  with  a  special  ten  cent  tax.  These 
vocational  schools  and  departments  may  offer  day,  part 
time,  and  evening  instruction  of  less  than  college  grade,  but 
"designed  to  meet  the  vocational  needs  of  persons  over  four- 
teen years  of  age  who  are  able  to  profit  by  the  instruction 
offered."  The  day  and  part  time  classes  are  to  be  open  to 
none  over  twenty-five  years  old,  and  the  evening  work  to 
none  under  seventeen.  Except  for  women  taking  domestic 
science  the  evening  and  part  time  classes,  moreover,  are 
available  only  to  those  who  are  studying  the  same  work 
they  do  for  wages.  In  case  such  vocational  schools  have 
been  established  and  approved  by  the  state  board  of  educa- 
tion, the  local  school  authorities  may  require  attendance  of 
all  youths  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  of  age  who 
are  engaged  in  any  regular  employment  for  five  hours  or 
more  per  week  between  the  hours  of  eight  A.  M.  and  five  P. 
M.  In  other  words,  children  under  sixteen  who  have  been 
given  their  work  papers  may  be  compelled  to  attend  con- 
tinuation schools  during  working  time  for  not  less  than  five 
hours  a  week.  School  corporations  maintaining  vocational 
schools  and  departments  approved  by  the  state  board  of 
education  are  to  be  reimbursed  from  state  funds  to  the  ex- 
tent of  two-thirds  of  the  teachers'  salaries.  The  money  for 
this  state  aid  comes  from  an  additional  one  cent  tax.  Un- 
der this  law  fifteen  cities  organized  vocational  departments 
in  1914-1915  with  a  total  enrollment  of  4,020  of  whom  1,197 
were  men. 

As  there  seem  to  be  no  recognized  standards  for  judg- 
ing this  law,  it  may  be  well  to  indicate  a  few  cardinal  prin- 
ciples. There  are  numberless  variations  of  vocational  edu- 
cation. These  fall  mostly  into  three  types.  In  the  first 
place,  vocational  education  may  be  designed  merely  to  im- 
prove the  manual  efficiency  of  the  pupil  at  his  present  po- 
sition. This  kind  of  teaching  helps  the  individual  to 
surpass  his  fellows  and  to  earn  higher  wages  by  superior 
speed  or  skill.  If  such  training  is  very  widespread  it  cannot 
much  raise  wages,  for  it  will  intensify  the  competition  for 
places;  and  since  the  same  amount  of  work  could  be  done 
by  fewer  persons  some  workers  would  be  displaced  and 
compelled  to  seek  new  employments.  Such  training  would 


236  INDIANA 

be  of  great  benefit  to  the  manufacturers,  however,  in  giving 
them  highly  skilled  workers  without  entailing  on  them  the 
cost  of  apprenticeships.  This  would  be  especially  true  if  a 
whole  state  should  adopt  universal  training  in  manual  tech- 
nique in  advance  of  other  commonwealths.  The  employers 
in  the  first  state  would  have  a  considerable  differential  ad- 
vantage. On  the  side  of  the  workers,  however,  little  can  be 
said  for  this  grade  of  vocational  work. 

A  second  type  of  vocational  training  aims  to  impart 
together  with  the  skill  of  the  task  an  understanding  of  its 
theories,  and  of  the  relations  of  the  processes  in  the  entire 
industry.  Such  instruction  would  probably  result  in  the 
worker  having  greater  respect  for  his  occupation  and  in- 
creased interest,  and  at  the  same  time  prepare  him  for  ad- 
vancement to  higher  positions  in  the  same  general  field. 
The  manufacturer  would  be  benefited  by  even  more  efficient 
service  than  that  created  by  the  first  type  of  training  pro- 
vided he  had  occupations  that  could  utilize  judgment  and 
broad  knowledge;  on  the  other  hand  he  would  have  a  more 
intelligent  labor  force,  better  able  to  insist  on  high  wages 
and  regular  employment.  About  the  same  results  would 
follow  a  third  type  of  vocational  training,  namely  that  de- 
signed to  give  the  worker  who  is  already  master  of  the 
manual  technique,  the  theory  of  the  operations  and  of  the 
industry. 

It  appears  that  if  any  of  these  three  types  of  industrial 
training  should  be  adopted  by  a  whole  nation,  the  efficiency 
of  the  workers  would  be  greatly  heightened,  the  employers 
would  have  better  opportunity  for  competition  with  foreign 
producers,  and  the  increased  sales  would  tend  slightly  to 
enlarge  the  labor  market.  On  the  other  hand,  the  univer- 
sality of  trade  knowledge  would  bring  with  it  so  large  a 
supply  of  skill  that  its  value  would  decrease  considerably. 
Thus  the  wages  of  those  who  now  have  a  monopoly  of  skill 
would  tend  to  fall.  But  even  if  industrial  training  were 
world  wide  there  would  be  some  gain  to  the  workers,  for 
with  increased  skill,  the  costs  of  production  would  be  re- 
duced, and  with  the  same  amount  of  labor  more  goods,  more 
things  destined  to  create  human  well-being,  could  be  made: 
so  prices  would  tend  to  fall,  and  wages  would  purchase  more. 
If  this  analysis  be  sound,  it  follows  that  there  is  a  distinct 
advantage  to  be  gained  by  both  the  employers  and  the 
workers  in  a  state  which  early  undertakes  universal  train- 


EDUCATION  237 

ing,  for  it  can  produce  at  a  relative  advantage,  an  advantage 
which  is  lost  when  the  other  states  follow  the  lead.  It  may, 
then,  be  concluded  that  any  one  of  these  forms  of  industrial 
education,  if  widespread,  will  accomplish  net  social  good, 
probably  at  the  expense  of  the  privileged  workers  who  now 
possess  a  trade  skill. 

Much  more  emphatically  can  agricultural  education  be 
endorsed.  Here  the  problem  is  not  one  of  helping  the  em- 
ployee to  raise  his  wages,  so  much  as  it  is  the  training  of 
the  future  owner  of  a  business  to  realize  profit  from  his 
plant.  The  skilled  agriculturalist,  even  tho  he  has  no  capi- 
tal can  become  a  manager  or  a  tenant,  can  be  virtually  his 
own  employer.  From  increased  agricultural  training,  there- 
fore, one  is  to  expect  better  crops,  larger  profits  for  the  far- 
mers who  raise  them,  and  more  for  human  kind  to  eat. 

In  view  of  these  considerations  the  wise  course  for  In- 
diana to  pursue  is  quite  clear.  It  is  impossible  for  the 
schools  to  impart  too  thoro  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  farm  management,  provided  they  do  not  sacri- 
fice the  academic  subjects  necessary  to  make  good  citizens 
having  a  fair  knowledge  of  their  country  and  its  culture. 
As  the  large  majority  of  the  school  girls  will  become  house- 
wives, there  is  little  fear  that  over-emphasis  can  be  put  upon 
cooking,  sewing,  housekeeping,  artistic  furnishing,  food 
values,  physiology,  hygiene,  and  other  branches  of  domestic 
science.  For  the  city  boys  and  girls  who  are  probably  des- 
tined to  enter  industry,  the  first  step  is  to  build  up  that  gen- 
eral control  of  hands  and  brain  that  will  enable  the  individ- 
ual to  master  readily  the  technique  of  a  special  trade,  and 
then  to  offer  a  differentiated  skill  without  neglecting  the 
theory  of  the  whole  industry.  The  cry  of  the  present  comes 
from  the  masses  in  "blind  alley  jobs"  which  lead  to  no  pro- 
motion. By  thoro  trade  training  children  can  be  saved 
from  these  occupations.  By  night  schools  and  continuation 
schools  those  now  in  the  dark  pockets  of  industry  can  be 
lifted  out.  The  requirement  of  the  present  law  that  a  vo- 
cational or  trade  school,  to  receive  aid,  must  confine  its 
work  to  individuals  studying  the  craft  at  which  they  are 
already  employed,  defeats  one  of  the  great  purposes  of  in- 
dustrial training.  The  law  must  be  amended  and  then  ex- 
tended. The  more  rapidly  and  the  more  thoroly  vocational 
education  is  developed  in  Indiana,  the  more  prosperity  will 
her  employers  and  her  employees  enjoy. 


238  INDIANA 

Health. 

Not  only  is  the  course  of  study  standardized,  but  the 
school  buildings  must  be  such  as  to  preserve  the  health  of 
the  children.  The  "Sanitary  Schoolhouse  Law"  which  has 
accomplished  a  great  deal  of  good,  protects  the  pupils  from 
too  much  noise,  from  damp  walks,  from  cold  or  stuffy  rooms, 
from  poor  light,  from  impure  drinking  water,  and  from  in- 
adequate toilet  facilities.  Moreover,  the  school  authorities 
are  permitted  to  appoint  school  physicians  who  are  commis- 
sioned to  test  the  sight  and  hearing  of  the  children,  to  in- 
spect their  teeth,  and  to  look  for  disease  and  other  disabili- 
ties that  would  prevent  the  maximum  benefit  from  study. 
Any  diseases  or  defects  discovered  are  to  be  reported  to  the 
parents  or  other  responsible  persons,  and  if  they  cannot 
provide  the  proper  care,  attention  is  to  be  furnished  thru 
public  dispensaries  or  by  the  aid  of  the  trustees.  The  ex- 
penditure for  medical  inspection  is  probably  one  of  the  most 
profitable  investments  of  the  public  school  funds,  for  it  is 
a  great  loss  to  the  community  to  have  in  the  class  room  a 
child  unfit  to  do  the  work.  Such  an  individual  handicaps 
the  instructor  in  many  ways,  he  drags  down  the  standards 
of  his  fellow  pupils  and  loses  his  own  opportunities.  The 
discovery  of  the  need  of  glasses,  or  the  putting  of  a  deaf 
child  in  a  front  seat  in  order  that  he  can  hear,  may  result 
in  giving  the  community  a  useful  man  rather  than  a  repro- 
bate. As  teachers  may  refer  ailing  children  to  the  phy- 
sician, his  services  may  prevent  epidemics.  Thus  medical 
inspection  is  a  form  of  insurance  of  society  against  the 
spread  of  disease  and  against  waste  of  talent.  It  may  be 
hoped  that  in  the  near  future  medical  inspection  will  be  uni- 
versally adopted. 

In  many  other  ways  does  the  state  care  for  its  excep- 
tional children.  There  is  a  state  school  for  the  deaf  founded 
in  1843,  and  another  for  the  blind  opened  four  years  later. 
Cities  of  not  less  than  three  thousand  inhabitants  may  con- 
duct night  schools  if  as  many  as  twenty  employed  persons 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  thirty  desire  such  instruc- 
tion. Children  who  can  be  better  educated  away  from  their 
home  towns  may  be  transferred  to  other  schools.  Thus 
the  country  children  may  attend  good  high  schools,  and  in- 
dividuals can  take  advantage  of  the  industrial  training  in 


EDUCATION  239 

other  cities.     And  finally,  special  schools  may  be  organized 
for  colored  children. 

Gary. 

There  are  many  features  of  the  educational  system  of 
Indiana  that  are  well  known  and  deservedly  commended,  but 
perhaps  the  most  prominent  in  the  public  eye  today  is  the 
system  worked  out  by  Wm.  A.  Wirt  in  Gary.  In  1906  when 
Mr.  Wirt,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  first  appeared  in  Gary 
he  had  a  unique  opportunity,  for  he  entered  a  city  built 
about  an  enormous  manufacturing  plant,  with  the  certainty 
of  rapid  growth  in  population  and  industry.  This  assured 
an  increasing  base  for  taxation.  Moreover,  as  there  was 
but  one  important  school  building  and  new  ones  would  cer- 
tainly be  needed  soon,  he  would  be  able  to  make  these  con- 
form to  the  needs  of  his  system.  And  finally,  he  had  no 
local  traditions  to  contend  with  and  no  antiquated  teachers 
whom  for  reasons  of  humanity  he  could  not  discharge.  On 
the  other  hand,  Mr.  Wirt  had  some  unusual  difficulties,  for 
he  had  a  very  rapidly  growing  population  to  provide  for, 
and  the  increase  in  taxes  lags  nearly  two  years  behind  in- 
creased values. 

The  theory  of  the  Gary  School  system  is  borrowed  from 
modern  industry.  The  plant  must  be  used  to  its  full  capac- 
ity every  possible  moment.  Therefore  the  school  day  con- 
tinues from  eight  thirty  in  the  morning  to  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  This  statement  means  more  than  it  seems 
to  imply,  for  the  classes  are  held  even  during  the  noon  hour, 
the  pupils  being  sent  home  for  lunch  in  two  groups.  In 
the  evening  from  seven  to  nine-thirty  the  buildings  are 
opened  for  the  adults  to  enjoy  entertainments  or  to  pursue 
study  courses.  On  Saturdays  the  children  come  for  volun- 
tary work,  and  on  Sunday  the  public  hears  concerts  and 
lectures.  The  idea  is  that  ultimately  the  buildings  can  be 
used  all  summer  for  regular  work  on  the  quarter  system, 
and  that  the  capacity  will  thus  be  increased  one-third  again, 
for  each  pupil  will  choose  one  quarter  a  year  for  his  vaca- 
tion, or  else  he  may  accomplish  four  years  work  in  each 
three.  By  means  of  the  long  school  day,  coupled  with  an 
ingenious  program  which  gives  the  typical  pupil  daily  about 
two  hours  of  academic  recitations,  two  of  manual  training, 
science,  drawing  and  music,  two  of  physical  culture  and 
play,  and  one  of  general  culture  in  the  auditorium,  each 


240  INDIANA 

building  accommodates  about  twice  as  many  pupils  as  it 
could  with  the  ordinary  program.  Finally,  the  school  is 
used  to  house  a  branch  of  the  free  public  library,  thus  re- 
ducing the  mean  cost  of  circulating  books  an  average  of 
ninety-five  per  cent. 

The  other  great  feature  of  the  Gary  system  is  its  ap- 
peal to  the  pupil.  An  attempt  is  made  to  correlate  the  work 
to  a  degree  little  dreamed  of  in  ordinary  schools.  English 
and  spelling  are  learned  in  the  writing  of  recipes,  the  study 
of  history  is  begun  in  the  Independent,  the  Outlook,  and  the 
Literary  Digest,  and  even  the  games  are  planned  to  involve 
arithmetical  problems  similar  to  those  being  taught  in  the 
class  room.  The  manual  training  is  vitalized,  because  real 
things  are  done.  A  city  chemist  as  a  teacher  may  let  his 
pupils  test  milk,  and  trade  unionists  in  charge  of  the  various 
phases  of  physical  maintenance  have  the  boys  in  their  vo- 
cational classes  decorate  and  paint  the  buildings,  construct 
the  furniture  needed,  run  the  heating  and  ventilating  sys- 
tems, install  electric  motors,  wires,  and  bells,  and  print  the 
rather  extensive  literature  of  the  school  system.  Thus,  vo- 
cational work  beyond  the  resources  of  an  ordinary  city  can 
be  carried  on  at  a  net  profit.  This  kind  of  instruction  inter- 
ests the  pupil  intensely,  and,  combined  with  the  fact  that 
all  the  work  from  the  kindergarten  thru  the  high  school  is 
conducted  in  one  building,  helps  to  keep  him  from  dropping 
out  of  school. 

The  unusual  case  can  be  well  cared  for  in  Gary,  for  the 
classes  are  so  organized  that  a  pupil  may  be  promoted  in 
each  subject  just  as  rapidly  as  he  can  progress,  while  he 
may  be  compelled  to  repeat  those  subjects  in  which  he  fails. 
This  is  possible  because  the  teachers  specialize,  and  the 
children  can  go  from  one  instructor  to  another,  instead  of 
reciting  all  their  lessons  in  one  room  to  one  person.  The 
departmental  method  for  grade  work  has  the  merit  of  giv- 
ing continuity  of  teachers  in  each  subject,  combined  with 
broadening  contact  with  several  instructors.  The  teachers, 
furthermore,  can  be  real  specialists.  Another  important 
exceptional  case  is  the  sickly  child ;  such  individuals  may  be 
sent  to  the  Gary  schools  to  be  made  well,  for  the  play  and 
physical  training  are  designed  for  body  building. 

This  system  of  schools  has  won  the  confidence  of  the 
people  of  the  city  because  of  its  efficiency  in  educating  the 
children.  It  is  also  economical,  for,  in  spite  of  the  excel- 


EDUCATION  241 

lence  of  the  buildings  and  the  equipment,  both  the  initial 
per  capita  cost  of  the  plant  and  the  cost  of  maintenance, 
lessened  by  the  vocational  education,  are  low.  High  salar- 
ied instructors  are  so  advantageously  used  that  even  the 
cost  of  instruction  is  less  than  in  schools  as  usually  run. 
With  all  its  good  features,  the  Gary  school  system,  reaching 
more  adults  than  children,  is  something  of  which  Indiana 
can  justly  be  proud. 

Normal  Schools  and  Libraries. 

In  another  important  group  of  educational  agencies  are 
the  normal  schools.  Best  and  largest  of  these  is  the  State 
Normal  School  at  Terre  Haute  which  has  beautiful  build- 
ings, numerous  departments,  and  a  variety  of  courses  plan- 
ned to  afford  the  best  possible  training  for  teachers  of  all 
grades  and  branches  taught  in  the  common  schools.  This 
school  and  two  city  normal  schools  reach  three  thousand 
young  people  each  year.  The  work  of  the  public  institu- 
tions is  supplemented  by  the  courses  in  education  in  many 
of  the  standard  colleges,  and  also  by  the  six  private  enter- 
prises which  in  1913  had  a  total  enrollment  of  nearly  three 
thousand  future  teachers. 

No  summary  of  the  educational  work  in  the  state  would 
be  complete  without  mention  of  the  private  schools  of  var- 
ious sorts.  In  addition  to  the  parochial  schools,  there  are 
business  colleges  galore,  and  Young  Men's  and  Young  Wom- 
en's Christian  Association  night  schools. 

The  people  as  a  whole  may  be  reached  thru  libraries, 
which  may  be  organized  by  cities,  towns,  and  townships, 
while  some  of  the  schools  also  extend  reading  privileges  to 
the  public.  Altogether  in  1914  there  were  three  hundred 
sixty-two  city  and  town  libraries  and  eleven  school  libraries 
freely  open  to  the  public.  In  addition  to  these,  which  served 
about  ten  per  cent  of  the  townships  in  the  commonwealth, 
there  were  three  hundred  and  sixty-one  traveling  library 
stations  with  over  twenty-five  thousand  members.  The 
state  has  a  Library  Commission  that  aids  the  work  in  many 
ways,  such  as  offering  advice  concerning  the  selection  of 
books  and  the  interpretation  of  the  laws,  conducting  a  sum- 
mer school  for  librarians,  distributing  pamphlets,  circulat- 
ing art  exhibits,  arranging  lectures,  and  in  other  ways  pro- 
moting the  interests  and  services  of  the  libraries. 


242  INDIANA 

Higher  Education. 

Above  the  common  school  system  of  Indiana  are  the 
higher  institutions  of  learning.  Among  these  Vincennes 
University  seems  to  be  the  oldest  college  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  for  it  was  incorporated  by  the  Territorial  Govern- 
ment in  1807  and  opened  three  years  later  on  the  profits  of 
a  lottery  and  of  the  sale  of  lands  donated  by  Congress.  Al- 
tho  founded  so  early,  Vincennes  University  has  not  develop- 
ed as  have  some  of  its  rivals,  for  its  work  seems  to  be  mainly 
of  the  normal,  business,  and  preparatory  type.  In  1824  a 
seminary  was  opened  at  Bloomington  which  became  Indiana 
College  in  1828  and  Indiana  University  ten  years  later. 
This  institution  was  financed  at  first  on  the  proceeds  of  the 
lands  given  by  the  United  States  Government,  later  by  gifts 
from  the  state,  and  it  is  now  supported  by  two-fifths  of  a 
special  seven  cent  tax  levied  for  the  three  state  schools  by 
the  legislature,  on  all  the  taxable  property  in  the  common- 
wealth. Indiana  University  has  expanded  until  it  now  in- 
cludes beside  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts  special  schools  for 
graduate  work,  education,  law,  and  medicine.  The  work  of 
the  institution  is  carried  directly  to  the  people  by  corres- 
pondence courses,  circulating  library  packets,  clubs,  lectures, 
conferences,  and  the  public  welfare  service.  With  a  rap- 
idly increasing  student  body,  this  university  has  proven  it- 
self worthy  the  place  it  occupies  at  the  head  of  the  state 
school  system.  The  other  state  university,  Purdue,  was 
founded  as  a  result  of  the  grants  of  land  script  by  Congress 
in  1862  and  1864.  It,  too,  has  grown  in  influence,  because 
of  its  work  for  agriculture,  which  was  described  in  Chapter 
III,  and  because  of  the  high  grade  of  the  technical  training 
it  offers. 

The  seminary  and  college  at  Bloomington  were  long 
under  the  control  of  the  Presbyterians,  and  in  fact  the  de- 
nominations seem  to  have  been  the  founders  of  all  the  early 
institutions  that  endeavored  to  supply  advanced  education. 
A  number  of  these  came  in  quick  succession  as  each  church 
organization  felt  the  need  of  academic  opportunities  for  its 
young  men,  more  particularly  for  those  that  desired  to  en- 
ter the  ministry.  The  Presbyterians  opened  Hanover  and 
Wabash  in  1827  and  1833;  Franklin,  the  Baptist  college, 
and  DePauw,  the  Methodist  university  started  their  work 
in  1837;  Notre  Dame  in  1844  began  its  career  as  one  of  the 


EDUCATION  243 

foremost  Roman  Catholic  universities ;  in  1847  Earlham  af- 
forded the  Friends  of  the  state  a  school  that  soon  became  a 
college ;  and  Butler  did  the  same  for  the  Christians  in  1855. 
This  enumeration  does  not  include  all  of  the  denominational 
colleges  now  in  existence,  for  the  Methodists  have  Taylor 
and  Moore's  Hill,  the  Roman  Catholics  maintain  St.  Mary's, 
St.  Meinrad's,  and  St.  Joseph's,  the  Mennonites  support  Go- 
shen,  the  Lutherans  control  Concordia,  and  the  United 
Brethern  subsidize  Manchester.  There  are  others  that  are 
not  mentioned  by  the  Commissioner  of  Education  as  Uni- 
versities or  Colleges,  but  which  consider  themselves  worthy 
that  designation.  In  Rose  Polytechnic  Institute,  Indiana 
has  one  of  the  best  engineering  schools  in  the  country.  Val- 
paraiso University  bestows  the  bachelor's  degree,  but  it  is 
hardly  a  university  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  term,  as  its 
work  is  mostly  of  secondary  grade.  This  is  a  peculiar  in- 
stitution, in  that  it  has  been  financially  profitable  to  its 
owners  and  founders.  The  secret  of  its  success  seems  to 
lie  in  the  fact  that  it  offers  very  practical  courses  at  a  low 
cost  in  both  time  and  money.  It  gathers  students  from 
every  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  does  help  them  to  make 
better  livings. 

A  study  of  the  catalogs  of  the  colleges  of  Indiana  and 
of  the  statistics  presented  in  the  report  of  the  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Education,  impresses  the  fact  that  the 
state  contains  a  great  many  institutions  founded  and  main- 
tained by  self-sacrificing  men  to  furnish  education  under 
moral  surroundings  to  the  young  men  and  women  of  a  par- 
ticular denomination.  Before  the  experimental  sciences 
had  become  fairly  exact,  before  sociology,  economics,  and 
politics  had  grown  beyond  the  stage  of  appriori  reasoning 
to  correlations  of  mass  phenomena,  and  before  experimental 
psychology  appeared,  a  good  man  and  a  log  might  serve  for 
a  college  during  the  summertime.  Today,  however,  there 
is  needed  a  good  deal  of  equipment  for  any  tolerable  teach- 
ing of  chemistry,  physics,  biology,  geology,  and  psychology ; 
good  libraries  are  essential  to  work  in  the  social  sciences  as 
well  as  in  the  languages,  literatures,  and  philosophies;  and, 
what  is  just  as  important,  only  specialists  can  be  profitably 
employed  to  impart  information  of  high  grade.  It  is  prob- 
ably not  beyond  the  facts  to  assert  that  several  small  self- 
styled  colleges  and  universities  are  playing  a  sort  of  educa- 
tional bunco  game.  It  lies  with  the  state  to  prevent  this  by 


244  INDIANA 

drastic  measures.  The  exact  requirements  to  be  enforced 
on  corporations  entitled  to  confer  the  bachelor's  degree  can 
hardly  be  set  forth  here;  but  it  might  be  suggested  that, 
after  a  fair  period  of  grace,  charters  or  at  least  exemption 
from  taxation  should  be  withdrawn  from  such  institutions 
unless  the  ratio  of  faculty  to  students  was  greater  than  one 
to  twenty,  unless  sixty  per  cent  of  the  faculty  held  doctor's 
degrees  earned  by  work  in  the  larger  universities  of  the 
country,  or  had  distinguished  themselves  for  scholarship, 
unless  thirty  per  cent  of  the  teaching  force  were  given  sal- 
aries of  at  least  two  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  another 
thirty  per  cent  salaries  of  at  least  fifteen  hundred  dollars, 
while  no  instructor  giving  full  time  to  work  for  the  college 
was  paid  less  than  a  thousand  dollars.  Moreover,  every 
college  and  university  should  compel  each  person  ranking 
above  the  grade  technically  described  as  instructor,  to  spend 
at  least  one  year  in  seven  in  study  either  at  home  or  abroad, 
for  no  professor  is  able  to  keep  up  with  a  science  or  liter- 
ature unless  he  has  considerable  time  for  such  uninterrupted 
study. 

Drastic  as  these  proposals  seem  they  have  a  sound 
basis.  An  institution  which  cannot  pay  salaries  sufficient  to 
secure  high  grade  men  for  its  teaching  force,  has  no  more 
right  to  offer  instruction  than  a  man  who  cannot  pass  ex- 
aminations in  materia  medica  has  to  practice  medicine.  A 
college  that  does  not  force  its  professors  to  pause,  rest, 
think,  and  learn  the  new  facts  in  their  fields,  is  negligent  of 
its  duties.  Colleges  would  have  the  choice  of  meeting  the 
requirements  set  or  of  following  the  glorious  path  of  the 
private  academies  which  were  useful  before  the  development 
of  the  efficient  public  high  school  but  which  have  now  gen- 
erally passed  away.  The  small  struggling  college  could 
combine  with  others  of  the  same  class  to  form  one  strong 
institution;  or  sects  might  be  allowe^l  to  make  arrange- 
ments with  the  state  university,  or  with  the  other  larger 
schools  to  have  courses  given  by  professors  satisfactory  to 
the  particular  denomination,  and  setting  forth  its  peculiar 
tenets.  Pastors  for  the  students  might  be  maintained  by  all 
denominations.  It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  col- 
lege exists  not  for  the  sake  of  employing  certain  men  as 
teachers,  nor  even  for  the  sake  of  the  individuals  in  the 
student  body,  but  rather  in  order  that,  thru  the  increased 


EDUCATION  245 

efficiency  and  broadened  vision  of  those  students,  the  whole 
state  and  nation  may  benefit. 

It  must  not  be  gathered  that  the  system  of  higher  edu- 
cation in  Indiana  deserves  severe  criticism  when  con- 
trasted with  that  of  other  states.  The  truth  is  that  the 
Hoosiers  are  well-nigh  free  from  the  affliction  that  results 
from  a  surfeit  of  struggling  colleges,  and  that  some  of  the 
older  denominational  schools  are  able  to  maintain  standards 
of  scholarship  equal  to  any  in  the  country,  while  the  Univer- 
sities, Indiana,  Purdue,  Notre  Dame,  and  DePauw,  give  the 
best  instruction  in  wider  fields.  On  the  whole,  the  state 
should  be  very  proud  of  the  work  of  its  highest  schools. 

Summary. 

Altho  a  great  deal  can  be  said  in  the  way  of  adverse 
criticism  of  the  educational  system  of  Indiana,  there  is  a 
steady  improvement  in  the  situation.  The  libraries  are 
constantly  reaching  larger  groups  of  people;  the  universi- 
ties are  growing  and  extending  their  work  to  meet  the  pub- 
lic needs,  and  at  the  same  time  they  are  increasing  their 
efficiency  in  what  they  do.  The  schools  are  frequent  suf- 
ferers from  the  effects  of  politics,  but  it  is  apparently  im- 
possible to  remove  them  from  these  influences  without  a 
return  to  sectarian  education  on  a  basis  so  narrow  that  in- 
struction would  be  confined  to  a  few.  The  course  of  study 
for  the  common  schools  has  been  well  worked  out,  and  is 
being  improved  by  the  beginnings  of  vocational  training. 
Teachers'  salaries  are  too  small  to  attract  really  first-class 
men,  but,  especially  in  the  case  of  women,  they  are  higher 
than  those  in  many  other  states.  It  can  be  safely  ventured 
that,  comparatively,  Indiana  ranks  among  the  dozen  best 
states  in  respect  to  education,  and  that,  absolutely,  her  sys- 
tem is  improving. 


Appendix 


Appendix 


SELECTED  REFERENCES. 

The  following  list  of  references  is  by  no  means  an  ex- 
haustive bibliography.  In  a  general  way  the  articles  and 
books  suggested  cover  the  field  of  this  survey. 

I.  The  Physical  Basis. 

Thirteenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  vol.  XL 

Mines  and  Quarries. 
Annual  Reports  of  the  Department  of  Geology 

and  Natural  Resources.     This  State  publication 

contains  many  excellent  articles,  notably  the 

following : 
The  Natural  Resources  of  the  State  of  Indiana, 

1906,  p  13,  W.  S.  Blatchley. 
The  Roads  and  Road  Materials  of  Indiana,  1905, 

p  17.    W.  S.  Blatchley. 
The  Clays  and  Clay  Industries  of  Indiana,  1904, 

p  13.    W.  S.  Blatchley. 
Sullivan  County  Oil  Fields,   1913,  p  9,  Edward 

Barrett. 

Glass  Sands  of  Indiana,  1913,  p  41,  Edward  Bar- 
rett. 
The  Princeton  Petroleum  Field  of  Indiana,  1906, 

p  559,  R.  S.  Blatchley. 

Coal  Deposits  of  Indiana,  1908,  p  13,  G.  H.  Ashley. 
Water  Powers  of  Indiana,  1910,  p  9  and  1911,  p 
/  469,  W.  M.  Tucker. 

The  World  Today,  vol.  15,  p  969,  September  1908. 

What  Natural  Gas  Has  Done  for  Indiana,  E.  H. 

Genau. 

II.  Trees. 

Reports  of  the  Indiana  State  Board  of  Forestry, 
1901  to  date.  Each  report  contains  at  least 
one  valuable  article. 


250  INDIANA 

Coulter,  Stanley.  Forest  Conditions  in  Indiana. 
Indiana  Academy  of  Science,  1909,  p  447. 

Douglass,  Benjamin  W.  Native  Trees  of  Indiana. 
A  collection  of  photographs. 

Mason,  Thomas  B.  Forests  in  Indiana.  Indiana 
Academy  of  Science,  1901,  p  33. 

Pegg,  E.  C.  and  Thomas,  M.  B.  Woodlot  for  Cen- 
tral Indiana,  Indiana  Academy  of  Science,  1909, 
p  416. 

Durham,  C.  B.  Fruit  Growing  in  Indiana.  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Indiana  Horticultural  Society, 
1913,  p  25. 

III.  Agriculture. 

Thirteenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  vols.  V 
and  VI.  Agriculture. 

Biennial  Reports  of  the  Indiana  Department  of 
Statistics,  especially  the  report  for  1913-1914 
which  contains  the  annual  reports  of  the  Coun- 
ty Agents  for  their  first  year's  work. 

Barrett,  Edward.  Soils  of  Indiana.  Report  of 
the  Department  of  Geology  and  Natural  Re- 
sources, 1911,  p  11. 

Church,  V.  H.  Climate  of  Indiana.  Report  of 
the  State  Board  of  Forestry,  1910. 

Conner,  John  B.  Indiana  Agriculture.  A  pam- 
phlet published  in  1893. 

Shannon,  Charles  W.  Indiana  Soil  Types.  Re- 
port of  the  Department  of  Geology  and  Natural 
Resources,  1907,  p  57. 

Soil  Surveys.  Reports  published  in  the  reports 
of  the  Department  of  Geology  and  Natural  Re- 
sources, or  by  the  Bureau  of  Soils  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture. 

IV.  Manufactures. 

Thirteenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  vols.  VIII 
IX  and  X.  Manufactures.  A  new  census  re- 
port on  manufactures  should  be  published  soon. 
A  great  deal  of  valuable  material  can  be  found 
in  the  reports  of  the  older  censuses. 

Circulars  and  booklets  compiled  by  various  cham- 
bers of  commerce. 


APPENDIX  251 

Burton,   C.   P.   Gary,   A  Creation.     Independent, 

vol.  70,  p  337. 
Taylor,  G.  R.     Creating  the  Newest  Steel  City. 

Survey,  vol.  22,  p  20. 
Gary,  the  Largest  and  Most  Modern  Steel  Works 

in  Existence.     Scientific  American,  vol.  101,  p 

441. 

V.         Transportation. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Service  Commission 
of  Indiana. 

Statistics  of  the  Railways.  An  annual  publica- 
tion of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Indiana  Magazine  of  History.  Contains  several 
articles,  notably  one  by  George  S.  Cottman; 
1907,  p  155. 

Electric  Railways.  Census  bulletin  issued  in 
1903. 

Central  Electric  Light  and  Power  Stations,  and 
Street  and  Electric  Railways.  Census  publica- 
tion, 1912. 

Benton,  Elbert  Jay.  The  Wabash  Trade  Route  in 
the  Development  of  the  Old  Northwest.  Johns 
Hopkins  Press,  1903. 

Cockrum,  Wm.  M.  Pioneer  History  of  Indiana, 
p  533.  Oakland  City. 

Cottman,  George  S.  History  Pamphlets.  In- 
dianapolis. 

Durand,  E.  D.  Interurban  Railways.  In  LaFol- 
lett's  Making  of  America,  vol.  4,  p  416.  1950. 

Esarey,  Logan.  Internal  Improvements  in  Indi- 
ana. A  publication  of  the  Indiana  Historical 
Society. 

Fischer,  Louis  E.  Economics  of  Interurban  Rail- 
ways. McGraw-Hill  Book  Company,  1914. 

Harris,  Wm.  T.  The  Erie-Michigan  Canal.  Pub- 
lished by  the  South  Bend  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, 1911. 

McGraw.  Electric  Railway  Manual.  McGraw 
Publishing  Company.  Annual. 

Sprague,  Frank  J.  Past,  Present,  and  Future  of 
Electric  Traction.  LaFollette's  Making  of  Am- 
erica, vol.  4,  p  442. 


252  INDIANA 

Electric  Railway  Journal.     Passim. 
Interurban  Railway  Journal.     Passim. 
Street  Railway  Journal.    Passim. 

VI.  Labor. 

Proceedings  of  the  Indiana  State  Federation  of 
Labor.  Annual. 

Biennial  Reports  of  the  Indiana  Labor  Commis- 
sion. 1897  to  1911. 

Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  No. 
160,  1914.  Hours,  Earnings,  and  Conditions  of 
Labor  of  Women  in  Indiana  Mercantile  Estab- 
lishments and  Garment  Factories. 

Motley,  C.  H.  Indianapolis  Car  Strike.  Survey, 
vol.  31,  p  193. 

Bacon,  Albion  Fellows.  Housing  Problem  in  In- 
diana. Charities,  vol.  21,  p  376.  Also  Hous- 
ing Awakening.  Survey,  vol.  25,  p  467. 

Fitch,  J.  A.  Illinois  Steel,  Boosting  for  Safety. 
Survey,  vol.  27,  p  1145. 

VII.  Labor  Legislation. 

Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  No. 
148,  1914.  Labor  Laws  of  the  United  States, 
with  Decisions  of  Courts  relating  thereto. 

Annotated  Statutes.  Revised  by  Burns  in  1914. 
Bobbs  Merrill. 

Acts  of  the  General  Assemblies. 

VIII.  Government. 

Burns.  Revised  Annotated  Statutes.  Bobbs 
Merrill,  1914. 

Brown,  Demarchus.  Government  in  Indiana. 
Scribner,  1912. 

Collins,  J.  A.  Humanizing  a  Court.  National 
Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  1914, 
p  26. 

Davidson,  Walter  B.  Government  in  Indiana. 
American  Book  Co.,  1912. 

Lapp,  J.  A.  County  Government  in  Indiana. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  No.  47,  p 
248. 


APPENDIX  253 

Lindley,  Harlow.  Government  of  Indiana.  Ginn, 
1909. 

Rogers,  H.  W.  Probation  System  of  the  Juvenile 
Court  of  Indianapolis.  National  Conference  of 
Charities  and  Correction,  1904,  p  369. 

Stechhan,  H.  H.  The  New  Municipal  Code  of  In- 
diana. Forum,  vol.  37,  p  286. 


IX.       Finances. 


Burns,  Revised  Annotated  Statutes.  Bobbs  Mer- 
rill, 1914. 

Proceedings  of  the  State  Board  of  Tax  Commis- 
sioners. Annual. 

Reports  of  the  Indiana  Department  of  Statistics. 
Biennial. 

Proceedings  of  the  Annual  Conferences  on  Taxa- 
tion in  Indiana.  Indiana  University  Bulletins. 

X.  Constitution. 

Copies  of  the  Constitution  of  Indiana  are  furnish- 
ed by  the  Bureau  of  Legislative  Information,  at 
the  State  House. 

Proceedings  of  the  Conference  on  the  Constitu- 
tion. Indiana  University. 

Dunn,  J.  P.  Proposed  Legislative  Constitution  of 
Indiana.  American  Political  Science  Review, 
vol.  6,  supplement,  p.  43. 

Lapp,  J.  A.  Indiana  Constitution.  American 
Political  Science  Review,  vol.  5,  p  260. 

Thieme,  Theodore  F.  A  New  State  Constitution 
for  Indiana.  1914,  Fort  Wayne. 

Woodburn,  James  A.  Indiana  Constitutions. 
Indiana  Magazine  of  History,  vol.  10,  p  238. 

XI.  Charities  and  Correction. 

(  1  )     Rawles :  Centralizing  Tendencies  in  the  Ad- 
ministration of  Indiana.     Pages  149,  150. 
Columbia  University  Studies  XVII. 

(  2  )     Report  of  Board  of  State  Charities  1914. 
Pages  142,  145,  146,  147,  148. 

(  3  )     Report— 1914.    Page  101. 


254  INDIANA 

(  4  )     Report— 1914.     Pages  46,  47. 

(  5  )     Act  of  1907.     Ch.  41,  Sec.  2. 

(  6  )     Report— 1914.     Pages  168,  169,  172,  173. 

(  7  )     Annual  Report.     Indiana  Boys'  School. 

(  8  )  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rection, Report  1907.  Pages  1-10;  611. 

(  9  )  The  Development  of  Public  Charities  and 
Correction  in  the  State  of  Indiana.  Board 
of  State  Charities,  1910.  Pages  81,  82. 

( 10)  Report— 1914.     Page  94. 

(11)  Development  of  Public  Charities.     Pages 
82,  83. 

(12)  Report— 1914.     Pages  124-128. 

(13)  Wright:   Fiscal  Control  of  State  Institu- 
tions.    Page  343. 

N.  Y.  State  Charities  Aid  Association. 

(14)  Warfield:     Outdoor    Relief    in    Missouri. 
Survey.     Associates. 

(15)  Annual  Reports  of  State  Institutions   of 
Indiana. 

XII.      Education. 

Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion. Biennial. 

Uniform  Course  of  Study  for  the  Elementary 
Schools  of  Indiana.  Annual. 

Uniform  Course  of  Study  for  the  High  Schools  of 
Indiana.  Annual. 

The  School  Law  of  Indiana.     1911. 

The  Acts  of  the  General  Assemblies. 

Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education.  An- 
nual. 

Reports  of  the  Public  Library  Commission  of  In- 
diana. Biennial. 

Official  Bulletins  or  Catalogs  of  the  Colleges  and 
Universities. 

Bobbitt,  J.  F.  Efficiency  of  the  Rural  School. 
Elementary  School  Teacher,  vol.  12,  p  169. 

Bourne,  R.  S.  A  series  of  articles  on  the  Gary 
Schools.  New  Republic,  vol.  2,  p  234,  p  302,  p 
326. 


APPENDIX  255 

Burris,  William  P.  The  Public  School  System  of 
Gary.  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Education, 
No.  18,  1914. 

Cotton,  Fassett  Allen.  Indiana  Education.  A 
statement  for  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposi- 
tion, published  by  the  state.  1904. 

Dewey,  John.  Industrial  Education,  A  Wrong 
Kind.  New  Republic,  vol.  2,  p  71. 

Gruppe,  M.  A.  How  the  Problems  of  Rural 
Schools  Are  Being  Met.  Popular  Science  Mon- 
thly, vol.  83,  p  484. 

Winship,  A.  E.  Barricaded  Against  Gary.  Jour- 
nal of  Education,  vol.  79,  p  719.  Also  Some 
Gary  Notes.  Journal  of  Education,  vol.  80,  p 
203. 

Wirt,  W.  Utilization  of  the  School  Plant.  Na- 
tional Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction, 
1912,  p  58. 

Consolidation  of  Rural  Schools.  American  City, 
vol.  9,  p  577. 

XIII.     History. 

Readings  in  Indiana  History.  Compiled  by  a 
committee  of  the  History  Section  of  the  Indiana 
State  Teachers'  Association.  Indiana  Univer- 
sity. 

Esarey,  Logan.  History  of  Indiana  from  its  ex- 
ploration to  1850.  W.  K.  Stewart.  1915. 

Levering,  J.  H.  Historic  Indiana.  Putman, 
1909. 

Smith,  W.  H.  History  of  Indiana.  Blair  and 
Company,  1897. 

Uniform  Course  of  Study  for  Elementary  Schools 
of  Indiana.  Outline  and  bibliography.  1915- 
1916,  p  175. 


Index 


Accidents,   106;   compensation,   108. 

Adams    County,   Jail,    211. 

Adjutant    General,    144. 

Administration  of  Charities,  213. 

Advisory   Board.   117,   221. 

Agriculture,  chapter,  35;  education,  51, 
234,  237;  employees,  88;  encourage- 
ment, 50. 

Alexandria,  11;  interurban,  78,  79;  min- 
eral wool,  19. 

Alfalfa,    44. 

Alien,   labor,   115;   suffrage,   166. 

Allen   County,    courts,    148. 

Amendment   of   Constitution,   163. 

American   Bridge   Company,   58. 

American  Car  and  Foundry  Company, 
58. 

American   Federation  of  Labor,  93. 

American   Locomotive  Company,  58. 

American    Steel   Company,   58. 

Anderson,  121;  gas,  11;  interurban,  78; 
manufactures,  58;  strikes,  98. 

Animal   products,  47. 

Annexation,    121,    122. 

Apples,   31;   show,   33. 

Apportionment,    132,    171. 

Arbitration,    labor    disputes,    114. 

Assessment,    154. 

Assignment    of   wages,    112. 

Assumed   risks,   107,   109. 

Attendants   at    asylums,    180,    182. 

Attorney    General,    143. 

Auditor  of  State,  142,  155,  156,  159,  160, 
169. 

Automobiles,    63,   74,   75. 

B. 

Ballot,    115. 

Banking,    regulation,    143. 

Barley,    44. 

Bartholomew   County,   corn,   42;   wheat. 

42. 

Bedford,  19,  59. 
Beechnut,   29. 
Beef,   47,    48. 
Belt   Line,   61,   77. 
Bills,    135.    13R. 
Blacklist,   115. 
Black   locust.   26,    27. 
Black  walnut,  21,  26,   29. 
Blind.   198,   238. 
Bloomington,   61,   242. 
Blue   River,   6. 
Bluffton,   79. 

Board   of  accounts,   160. 
Board  of  agriculture,  49,  50. 
Board   of  children's   guardians,   189. 
Boards    of    finance,    159. 
Board   of  forestry,   24,   29. 


Board   of  industrial   aid,   198. 
Board   of   public  safety,   121. 
Board  of  public  works,  125,  127,  71. 
Board   of  state  charities,   179,   182,   190, 

191,   211,   213,   215. 
Bonds,  72,   73,   152,  221. 
Boonville,   79. 
Boys'   school,   201,   195. 
Brazil,   18. 
Bricks,  18. 
Brough,    John,    76. 
Brown  County,   5. 
Buckwheat,   44. 
Budget,   124,   130,   117. 
Buren,   Joseph,   75. 
Business   schools,   241. 
Butler,  A.  W.,  200. 
Butler  College,   243. 
Butternut,  29. 


C. 


Canals,   6,   68. 

Cannelburg,  9. 

Cannelton,  18,   15. 

Cantaloupes,   45. 

Carriages,   63. 

Carthage,   11. 

Cass   County,   45,   211. 

Catalpa,    26,    27. 

Caucus,  139. 

Charities   and    Correction,    chapter,    178. 

Charity   organization,  187. 

Check    weighman,    112. 

Chestnut,   22. 

Chicago,  47,   56,  79. 

Children,  labor,  87,  101;  care,  179,  188, 
193.  196,  211. 

Christie,   G.   I.,  53. 

Churches,   187,   197. 

City,  incorporation,  120;  classification, 
121;  council,  121,  123,  222;  attorney, 
125,  127;  clerk,  122,  124;  Judge,  126, 
127;  school  superintendent,  228; 
treasurer,  125. 

Clark   County,   25,  45. 

Clay  County,  17,  211. 

Clays,    18,   37. 

Clerk  of  circuit  court,  131,  148,  169. 

Climate,   37. 

Closed   shop,  97. 

Clubs,   197,  52. 

Coal,   14,  15,  58,  65. 

Coleman,  T.  A.,  53. 

Colleges,  242,   243. 

Committees,    134,    135. 

Connersville,   6,   79. 

Consolidated    schools,    231. 

Constable,    118. 

Constitution,   chapter,   162;   151,  219. 

Controller,  city,  124,  127. 

Co-operation,  31,  48,  50,  51. 


258 


INDEX 


Corn,  40,  41,  45,   50,  47. 

Coroner,   131. 

Corrections,    178. 

Corruption,    127,    146. 

Corydon,    162. 

Coulter,   Stanley,  26,  28,  22. 

Courts,    122,   126,   129,   145,   147,   181,   189. 

Cow   peas,   44. 

Crawford   County,   17. 

Crawfordsville,  77. 

County  agents,  33,  52. 

County,  assessors,  130,  131,  154;  audi- 
tor, 117,  129  ,130,  131,  154,  156,  159, 
169,  220;  board  of  charities,  181; 
board  of  review,  132,  154,  155;  com- 
missioners, 72,  73,  119,  129,  178,  179, 
181,  182,  211;  council,  129;  highway 
superintendent,  72;  recorder,  131;  su- 
perintendent, 223,  225;  surveyor,  72; 
treasurer,  117,  72,  120,  130,  131,  132, 
156,  159,  169. 

Cucumbers,  45. 

Curriculum,  230,   232. 


D. 


Dairying,   48,   50. 

Daviess  County,  17,  45. 

Deaf,   198,   238. 

Deam,   Chas.   C.,   26. 

Dearborn    County,   45. 

Debts,   174. 

Decatur   County,    19. 

Defectives,    197. 

Deforestation,    6,    21. 

DeKalb   County,   44. 

Delinquents,  188,  192,  205. 

Delphi,  22,  79. 

DePauw   University,    242,   245. 

Dependents,   178,   188. 

Depositories,    159. 

Diamonds,  5. 

Direct    Legislation,    172. 

Direct    primaries,    146. 

District  supervisors,  71. 

Dividends,   interurbans,  85;   steam   rail 

ways,  77. 

Dixie    Highway,    74. 
Domestic   science,   51,   234,   237. 
Drainage.  18,   50. 
Dubois   County,   17. 
Dunkirk,   11. 
Dye,  John   T.,  165. 


Earlham  college,  243. 

East  Chicago,  58,  121. 

Eaton,  9,  11. 

Education,   chapter,   219;   229. 

Eggs,   49. 

Elections,    127,    128. 

Electricity,   84,   6. 

Elkhart,  58,  74,  79,  121,  211;  county,  45. 

Elwood,   58,  121. 

Emmer,  45. 

Employment  bureaus,  113. 

Epileptics,  179,  180,  202. 

Equalization,  155. 

Esarey,   Logan,   144. 

Evansville,   30,   59,   90,   94,   113,    121.   128, 

197.    199. 
Exemptions,  152. 


F. 

Factory   code,   105. 

Fair  grounds,  129. 

Farms,   7,   37,   38,   39.   42,   47. 

Fayette    County    jail,    211. 

Feeble  minded.  179,  180,  200. 

Fellow  servant,  107,  109. 

Finances,   chapter,    191;    174,   219,   235. 

Fire  chief,  19,  120.  124,  127. 

Fisher,   Carl  G.,   74. 

Flaxseed.    45. 

Flour,   42,   62,   63,   13. 

Floyd   County  Jail,   211. 

Forests.  5,  21,  24;   associations,  26. 

Fort   Wayne,   11,   58,   79,   74,   90,   98,   113, 

121,   200. 

Fountain  County,  17. 
Fox.   Chas.,   98. 
Frankfort.   79. 

Franklin   County,  19,  211,   45. 
Fraternities,  153. 
Frauds,  election,  128. 
Freight,   83. 
Fruits,    31. 
Fulton   County,  211. 
Furniture,  63. 

(J. 

Garnishment.    113. 

Gary,  56,  58,  60,  121,  239. 

Gas.   10. 

General  Assembly,  11,  25,  33,  48.  49,  50, 

95.  100,  132,  162,  164,  170,  171,  172,  224, 

226. 

General  property  tax,  155,  156,  157. 
Gibson   County.  17.  45. 
Girls'   school,   194,  201. 
Glaciers,  35. 
Glass,   13,   19. 
Gold.   5. 
Goshen,  6,   243. 
Government,   chapter.  116. 
Governor.  114,  137,  141,  145,  155,  160,  169, 

213.  214. 

Grant   County   jail.   211. 
Grapes.  45. 

Gravel   Roads,  71,   72,   73. 
Greencastle,   15,  19. 
Greene   County,  17,   211. 
Greenfield.    11. 
Green  sburg,   79. 

H. 

Hamilton    County,    52,    133. 
Hammond,   58,    63,   90,   121. 
Hanover  College,  242. 
Hartford   City,   11. 
Hay,  44. 
Hazel   nuts.  29. 
Health,  91,  104,  126,  238. 
Hemp.   45. 

Hendricks,  162;  county,  133. 
Henry,   Chas..  78.  80. 
Henry   County,   211. 
Henryville,  25. 
Hickory.  21,  29. 
High   schools,   224,   232. 
Hogs,   46,   47,   53. 
Horses.   49. 
Horticulture,   33,   45. 
Hours,  of  labor,  91.  97,  101,  102. 
Huntington,   11,   18.  58,   79,   121;   county, 
211. 


INDEX 


259 


I. 

Illinois.  15,  44,  47,  56;  steel  company,  93. 

Impeachments,   144. 

Indeterminate    sentence,    209. 

Indianapolis,  6,  22,  24,  31,  47,  60,  69,  70, 
71  76  78,  79,  81,  90,  113,  114,  121,  122, 
126,  127,  128,  192,  196,  197,  198,  199, 
204,  205,  222. 

Indiana  University,  242,  245. 

Industrial    board,    109,    115. 

Industrial  training.   196,   198,   234,   237. 

Industries,  5,   56,  88,   89. 

Inheritance  tax,   160. 

Initiative,   172. 

Insane,   179,   180,   184,   198,  199. 

Institutes,    farmers',    52;    teacher's,    226. 

Insurance,   regulation,   143. 

Interurbans,   77,  80,   83,   85. 

Iron,  5.  13. 

Irwin,   Jospeh   I.,   78,   80. 


J. 


Jackson  county,  211. 

Jails,   181,   199,  210. 

Jasper  County,  14. 

Jay  County,  211. 

Jefferson  County,  45. 

Jeffersonville,  59,  79,  121,   195,   205. 

Jennings,  162. 

Jury,   116,  145,  148,  174. 

Justice,    173. 

Justice  of  the  peace,  118,  146. 

Juvenile  court,  146,  191,   192. 


Kankakee,    21,    35. 
Keystone,    13. 
Kindergartens,    197. 
Knox   County.   17,  45,  211. 
Kokomo,  11,  58,  63,  79,  121. 
Kosciusko   County,   45. 

L. 

Labor,  chapter,  87;  65;  236;  commission, 
96;  Labor  Legislation,  chapter,  100. 

Lafayette,  58,  68,  70,  76,  79,  90,  121. 

Lagrange,    79;    County,    211. 

Lake  County,  179,  211. 

Laud,  31,  37,  56,  82. 

Laporte,  58,   74.   121;   County,  45,  211. 

Latta,   W.   C.,   73. 

Lawrence  County,  211. 

Lawyers'   amendment,   164. 

Lebanon,    79. 

Legislative  investigating  committee, 
134. 

Legislative  reference  bureau,  134. 

Liability,  employers',  106. 

Libraries,   241;    commission,   241. 

Lieutenant  Governor,  134,  140,  145. 

Ligonier,   74. 

Limestone,  10,  19,  58.  74. 

Lincoln  Highway,  74. 

Littlepage,   T.    P.,   29,   30. 

Livestock,  50. 

Lobbyists,   139. 

Lockwood,   Bertha  J.,   90. 

Logansport,   58,   79,   121,   199. 

Long  Hospital,   203,  204,   205. 

Loogootee,    14. 

Lumbering,  63. 


M. 

Madison,  70,  76,   199. 

Manufactures,  chapter,  55;  6,  19,  61,  64, 

66,   68. 
Maples,  22. 
Maps,  coal,  16;  petroleum,  13;  oats,  36; 

corn,  40;  wheat,  43;  hogs,  46. 
Marion,  11,  58,  79,  121;  County,  132,  148, 

194,  203. 

Marshal,  120,  124,  127. 
Marshal    County,    45. 
Marshall,  T.  R.,  164,  165. 
Mars   Hill,   61. 
Martin   County,  17. 
Martinsville,  79. 

Mayor,  122,  123,  125,  126,  127,  147. 
McCoy,    R.   L.,   29. 
McGowan,  H.  G.,  80. 
Medarrysville,   13. 
Medical  charities,  203. 
Medical   inspection,  238. 
Merchants,  82,  90. 
Miami  County,  211. 
Michigan   City,   19,  58,  121,  205,  207. 
Michigan   Road,   70. 
Milk,   48,   84,   197. 
Mills,   Caleb,  219,   231. 
Milo  maize,  45. 
Mineral  wool.  19. 
Mines,   106,  17. 
Minimum  wages,  112,  225. 
Mint,  45. 

Mishawaka,  6,  58,   121. 
Mississinewa   River,   6. 
Mississippi   River,   68. 
Morgan   County,  211. 
Morrison,   John,   219. 
Mortgages,  38,  153. 
Mothers'   pensions,   183,   184. 
Mt.   Vernon,   79. 
Muncie,  11,  14,   19,  58,  90,  121,   128. 

N. 

National    Conference    of    Charities    and 

Correction,   218. 
National   Road,  70. 
Natural   gas,   9. 
New  Albany,  59,  90,  121. 
Newburg,   15. 
Newcastle,   79,   202. 
Niblack,   M.  J.,  29. 
Noble,  76,  162;  County,  45,  211. 
Noblesville,    11. 
Normal  schools,  241. 
Notre  Dame,  242,  245. 
Nuts,  29. 


o. 


Oakland  City,   14. 
Oats,  36,  41. 

Occupations,  101,  102,  137. 
Ohio.   County,   45;   River,   15,   35. 
Oil,  13. 

Orange  County,  17,  19. 
Orchards,  30. 

Organization   of   labor,    92. 
Orphans,   181,  188,  189,  190. 
Overcrowding,   Gary,   57. 
Owen,  County,  17,  211;  David,  15;  Rob- 
ert,  219,    Robert   Dale,   71. 


260 


INDEX 


p. 

Paoli,  209. 

Parke   County,   17,   211. 

Parks,  127. 

Paroles,   206. 

Penal  Farm,  206,  207. 

Peanuts,  45. 

Peas,  45. 

Pecans,  29. 

Pendleton,  11. 

Pensions,  226. 

Peppermint,   45. 

Perkins,   E.  A.,  100. 

Perry  County,  15,  17. 

Peru,   11,  58,  76,   121. 

Petroleum,  7,  13. 

Physical    Basis,    chapter,    5. 

Pigeon   River,   6. 

Pigments,   mineral,   5. 

Pike   County,    17. 

Plainfleld,    194. 

Plymouth    Training   School,    196. 

Police.    126. 

Poll  tax,  152. 

Poor,    asylums,    186,    182,    189,    201,    202; 

relief,   178,   182. 
Population,   58,   59,  61,   39 
Portland,   79. 
Posey   County,   17,  45. 
Potatoes,   44. 
Poultry,  49. 
Power,   59,   6. 
Primaries,   146. 
Princeton,  14,   79. 
Probation,  193,  194,  208. 
Prosecuting  Attorney,  131,  144,  145,  147 
Public   health   nursing,   204. 
Public   Service  Commission,  77,  85,   127, 

144. 

Pupils,  219,  229. 
Purdue  University,  24,  42,  48,  49,  51,  242 

245. 
Putnam  County,  17,  206. 

Q. 

Quartermaster    General,    144. 

R. 

Railways,  75,  83,  105. 

Rainfall,   7,   37. 

Randolph    County,   45,   211. 

Rawles,   W.  A.,  178. 

Ray,    J.    B.,   69,   75. 

Referendum,   172. 

Reformatory,  205,  206,  207,  208,  209,  210. 

Religion  in  colleges,  244. 

Representatives,   132. 

Reservation,   forest,  25. 

Retirement    fund,    227. 

Richmond,  60,  79,  81,  90,  121,  219. 

Ripley   County,  19. 

Roads,  50,  69,  71.  72,  73,  81;  supervis- 
ors, 71,  118. 

Rockport,    79. 

Rockville,   203. 

Rose,  Chauncey,  76;  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute, 243. 

Rotation   in  office,   169. 

Rush  County,  211. 

Rye,  44. 


S. 

Safety,   104,   106,   108. 

Salem,   19. 

Sands,    19,   37. 

Sare,    T.   J.,   168,   175. 

Schools,  53,  81,  101,  126;  finances,  130, 
158,  159,  220;  organization,  221,  222, 
curriculum,  228,  230;  property,  219, 
239. 

Secretary  of  state,  140,  142,  169. 

Senate,  132,   145. 

Shale,  7. 

Sheep,    49. 

Shelburn,    14. 

Shelbyville,    75. 

Sheriff,   131,   169,   211. 

Shoals,   18. 

Short   ballot,   170. 

Shortridge,   A.   C.,   51. 

Slaughtering,  62. 

Smith,   O.  H.,  76. 

Social   Hygiene   Association,   205. 

Soil,   35,  51. 

Soldiers,    187,    191. 

South  Bend,  6,  58,  70,  74,  79,  90,  113, 
121,  197. 

South   Chicago,  56. 

Soy    beans,   44. 

Spelt,   45. 

Spencer    County,    17,   45. 

Spiceland,  11. 

Sprague,    Frank   J.,    77. 

Starke  County,  45. 

State  Board  of  Education.  224,  234. 

State  Federation  of  Labor,  93,  94,  100, 
234. 

State   Geologist,   144. 

State   Normal   School,   225,  241. 

State  Prison,  201,  205,  207,  208,  209,  210. 

State  Superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion, 144,  223,  234. 

State  Tax  Commission,  155,  156. 

State   Teachers'    Association,   226. 

Steuben   County,   45.  211. 

St.  Joseph,   179;   County,  6,  45,  211 

St.   Mary's    College,   243. 

St.    Meinrad's    College.    243. 

Stock,   38. 

Stone,  W.  E.,  51. 

Stotsenburg.  165,  176. 

Street    Commissioner,    71,    119,    120,    124. 

Strikes,  96. 

Suffrage,    166. 

Sullivan  County,  14,  17,  45,  53,  211. 

Supervisor     of    agricultural     education. 

224. 

Supreme  Court,  163,  165,  11. 
Suspended  sentence,  208. 
Switzerland  County,  45. 

T. 

Tables.  Distribution  of  wage  earners 
in  occupations,  88;  manufactures  of 
Ind..  66;  products  of  farms  of  Ind., 
1913,  54;  proportion  of  population  en- 
gaged in  gainful  occupation,  87;  re- 
sults of  strikes,  97;  concentration  of 
manufactures  in  Ind.,  64;  ten  leading 
manufactures.  62. 

Taxes.  120,  125,  129,  130,  132,  152,  155. 
158,  160,  159,  157. 

Teachers.  219.  225,  227.  228,  233.  240, 
243. 


INDEX 


261 


Tell   City,   98. 

Terre   Haute,    19,   30,    60,    76,    79,    81,   90, 

113,   121,   128,   222,  241. 
Tipton  County,   11,  41,  48,  79,  211. 
Tobacco,  45. 
Tomatoes,  45. 
Town.   82,    119,    120. 
Township,    71.    116,    117,    120.    130,    154, 

156,    179,    182,    184,    185,    221,    222,    223, 

231. 

Trade   unions,  93;   and   labor,   89. 
Transportation,  chapter  68;  57.  65,   231. 
Treasurer  of  State,  143,  159,  169. 
Trees,  chapter,  21. 
Truancy,  193,  230. 
Tuberculosis,    203. 
Tuition    revenue.   220,   227. 
Tulip,    22. 

IT. 

Unemployment,    186;    see   labor. 
Union    City,   79. 
Union    Depot,   76,    77. 

V. 

Valparaiso,   74;   University,   243. 

Value,     farm     property,     38;     products, 

factory  and  agriculture,  61. 
Vanderburg    County,   17. 
Vermillion   County,   17,   211. 
Veto,  137. 

Vigo  County,  5.  17,  45,  148,  211. 
Vineennes,   59,   121;   University,   242. 
Vocational   Education.  52,   196,   198,   230, 

234,   240. 


Wabash,  College,  242;  and  Erie  Canal, 
6,  68,  70,  71;  River,  15,  22,  35,  42,  60, 
68;  City,  79. 

Wages,  91,  97,  109,  111. 

Warren  County,  211. 

Warrick  County,  15,  17,  45. 

Watermelons,  45. 

Waterpower,   6,  65. 

Wayne   County,   70. 

Wells  County,  7,  8,  13,  211. 

Wheat,  41,  43. 

Whiteley   County,  45. 

White  oak,   21. 

White  pine,   22. 

White  river,   6,   15,  24,  68. 

Whitewater.  6,  24. 

Whiting,    58. 

Wild   cherry,   22. 

Wilkinson,   J.   F.,   nut  planter,   29. 

Wirt,    W.   A.,   239. 

Wisconsin    drift.    35,    42. 

Women,  88,  89,  166,  167,  168,  196,  206, 
208,  209,  210. 

Work,   Julia  E.,   196. 

Workmen's  compensation,  108. 

Woodlot,    28. 

Wool,   49. 

Wright,    Floyd,   9. 

Y. 

Yellow  poplar,  22,  26. 
Y.   M.   C.  A.   and   Y.   W.   C.   A.   schools, 
241. 


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